
Class 
Book. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



i 



ALBANY 



AND 



Its Place iD llie History of tie iltel States. 



BY- 



BKRTHOLD FERNOW^, 



^ 



History is Past Politics; Politics Present History."— Freeman, 



ALBANY 



AND 



Its Place ifl tie History oftlellDiM Stales 



A MEMORIAL SKETCH 



WRITTEN FOR 



THE TWO-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 



OF ITS 



BIRTHDAY AS A CITY. 



BY —?■' 

BERTHOLD FERNOW, 

Honorary and Corresponding MemlDer of the Historical Societies of 

New York, Hew Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Buffalo, 

and Waterloo ; Memi)er of the American Historical 

Association ; Custodian of the Historical 

Records of the State. 



ALBANY : 

CHARLES VAN BENTHUYSEN & SONS. 

1886. 






OPv. 



ri^L"^ 



r^7 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1886, 

By BERTHOLD FERNOW, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



PREFACE. 



The Albany Express of Friday, April 30, 1886, said: 

" The Bi-centennial committee has selected Governor Hill 
as the orator, Mr. William H. McElroy, of the New York 
Tribune, as the poet, and Mr. Berthold Fernow, the custo- 
dian of the colonial records of the State, as the historian, of 
the Bi-centennial celebration of the founding of the charter 
of the city of Albany. 

" These selections are all admirable. It is eminently proper 
that the Governor of the State should be invited to deliver 
the oration on an occasion that has to do so intimately with 
the history of this noble Commonwealth. While not a 
finished orator, Governor Hill is a strong and practical talker, 
and he will deliver an address full of interest and valuable 
as a study of American municipal history. 

" Mr. McElroy has been regarded from the first as the only 
person to be invited to prepare the poem for this occasion. 
He is a native of Albany, and he loves the good old city as 
dearly as though he had never left it. He is a born poet as 
well as a born humorist ; and his contribution to our Bi- 
centennial literature will be as full of poetry as it is full of 
wit, and as full of both as Albany is full of years. 

" Mr. Fernow is an expert in the colonial histoiy of this 
city and this State. He has studied more into the musty 
records of the Dutch and English times, and written more 



regarding them, than any man now aUve. His history will 
be a finished monograph, and the worthy permanent me- 
morial of the Bi-centennial celebration." 

Beyond a conversation with a sub-committee, this was 
the only information which the author received of the 
selection. 

Duly appreciating the honor, although believing that it 
should have been conferred upon a native of the city of 
Albany, or at least upon a native of the State of New York, 
and not upon a foreigner, the author undertook the task and 
herewith submits the result to the public. 

An attempt to try writing a history of the city from its 
earUest settlements could only have resulted in complete 
failure, seeing in how short a time it had to be done. This 
sketch will contain practically nothing new, but only facts, 
already known, considered under a new light. 

The same shortness of time must be the excuse for omis- 
sions and too sketchy treatment of the matter. The author, 
however, has made no statement that he cannot prove by 
" chapter and verse" from the records in his charge. 

Albany, yuly, 1886. 



Grea t oaks from little a corns grow, 

Grea t streams from little fountains flow. 



H 



AVE we grown more irreligious than our fore- 
fathers, or more tolerant? 

In the days when the white race first invaded the 
home of the red man, where the capital of the Empire 
State now stands, people were ready to fight to the bitter 
end for their rehgious beUefs and their own peculiar manner 
of worshipping their Creator. To a conflict of this kind 
Albany and the State of New York owe their origin. 

"History," says Bacon, "makes men wise." He might 
have added "and patriotic." The remembrance of Ther- 
mopylse and Marathon makes a brave man of the puniest 
Greek; the thought of Waterloo fires the heart of the Eng- 
lishman and the German, whose grandfathers stood on that 
field fighting against the Corsican whirlwind, then disturbing 
the peace of Europe. But history's field of usefulness ought 
to be extended still further. We have learnt from it the right 
of self-defense, which admits that no man shall accept pas- 
sively the infliction of violence to his person or his family; 
and we might learn from it the great lesson of self-respect, 
so little heeded by us in America. Many a man is willing 
to pass through a slough of the most abject humiliation in 
order to obtain either political preferment or make more 
money than his neighbor. 

Political preferment was not a motive to the actions of 
the Dutch, who planted the Colony of New Netherland, laid 



the " corner stone of the Empire State," and prepared the 
cement which bound together the fabric of the United States 
in after years. Commercial wealth had something to do with 
the first settlement of the Dutch on the Hudson river, but 
it was secondary to their love of liberty, political and reli- 
gious. It were these traits which had induced the Dutch to 
fight the Spaniards in the manner of their ancestors, the 
Batavians, whom Tacitus immortalized by the saying, " Other 
nations go to battle — they go to war." 

Carlyle says, the Spaniards wanted the Dutch to believe 
in St. Ignatius and "went about with swords and guns" to 
enforce this belief. "Never made them believe in him, but 
did succeed in breaking their own vertebral column forever 
and raising the Dutch into a great nation." It was known 
that Spain obtained the means to carry on her wars from the 
fabulous gold mines of an equally fabulous Eldorado in the 
still somewhat unknown New World. To sap this source of 
wealth and destroy Spain's power to do harm, was the motive 
for the first expeditions sent out by the Dutch, of which only 
that under Henry Hudson in 1609 concerns us. 

On the 4th of September, of that year, he entered with his 
vessel of sixty tons burthen, the "Half Moon," t.irough the 
Narrows into New York bay, and on the 19th of the same 
month, "I landed," he says, "in one of their boats in com- 
pany of an old man, who was the chief there of forty men 
and seventeen women ; we went to a house of oak bark." 
That is the description of Albany as it appeared to the first 
white visitor of whom we have positive know^ledge. The 
inhabitants dressed in garments made by themselves out of 
the skins furnished by the chase, which was their occupation. 
Their nourishment was " Turkish wheat," the Indian com 
of our day, made into cakes, " very good to eat," quaintly 
says De Laet. 

In the simple traditional history of the Indians, this first 
meeting is described with a little more detail. The River 
Indians, of the Mohican tribe, said in their speech to the 



Commissioners of the Colonies assembled at Albany in 
1754 : " Fathers, who sit present here, we will just give you 
a short relation of the long friendship which has subsisted 
between the white people of this country and us. Our fore- 
fathers had a castle on this river ; as one of them walked 
out he saw something on the river, but was at a loss to know 
w^hat it was ; he took it at first for a great fish ; he ran into 
the castle and gave notice to the other Indians, two of our 
forefathers went to see what it was and found it a vessel with 
men in it ; they immediately joined hands with the people 
in the vessel and became friends ; the white people told them 
they should not come any further up the river at that time, 
and said to them they would return back from whence they 
came and return in a year's time ; according to their prom- 
ise they returned in a year's time and came as far up the 
river as where the old fort stood; our forefathers invited 
them ashore and said to them, ' here we will give you a place 
to make you a town, it shall be from this place up to such a 
stream (meaning where the Patroon's mill now stands), and 
from the river back up to the hill.' Our forefathers told them 
they were now a small people, they would in time multiply 
and fill up the land they had given them. After they were 
ashore some time, some other Indians, wlio had not seen 
them before, looked fiercely at them, and our forefathers 
observing it and seeing the white people so few in number, 
lest they should be destroyed, took and sheltered them under 
their arms, but it turned out that these Indians did not desire 
to destroy them, but wished also to have the said white peo- 
ple for their friends; at this time, which w^e have now spoken 
of, the white people were small, but we were very numerous." 
We have no conclusive proof, that Hudson and his crew 
were the first white discoverers of this locality, but we have 
indications, that it had been visited by Spaniards or French. 
After the failure of Estebau Gomez, in 1524-5, and of the 
I.icenciado d'Aillon and Matienzo, in 1526, a Spanish writer 
is led to exclaim : "To the South, to the South for the great 



8 

and exceeding riches of the Equinoctial ; they that seek gold, 
must not go to the cold and frozen North." The part of 
North America, now constituting some of the most powerful 
and populous States of the Union, was of no value in the 
eyes of the Spaniards ; they looked upon it only as a barrier 
to the richer fields of Cathay. 

The report, which Hudson made to his employers in 
Holland, after his return, was accompanied by rich and 
costly furs, bartered from the Indians. This awoke the 
cupidity of the Dutch and led to a number of trading ex- 
peditions to the newly explored territory. Our records tell 
us, that this trading with the Indians was not quite safe, as 
it carried the penalty of occasional captivity of the traders, 
at the hands of the red people. The oldest muniment for 
the history of the State of New York, is a map dated about 
1 6 14 to 1.6 1 6 and found by Mr. J. Romeyn Broadhead, in 
the Archives of the Hague.* This map was made up prob- 
ably from information, gathered by three of these unfortunate 
traders, while moving about with their captors. On it we 
find mention of the first settlement positively known to have 
been made in this locality. It was called Nassouw or Fort 
Nassau, in honor of the Prince of Nassau — Orange, then 
Stadtholder of the United Belgic Provinces, and had been 
built on an island, which in 1660 Avas still called Castle 
Island, now Rensselaer's Island. A few years later, in 161 8, 
high water and ice injured the fort so much, that it was 
thought best to remove from Castle Island to the mainland 
at Norman's kill, where the first treaty with the Mohawks 
was made. The map of Rensselaerswyck, made in 1630 
and preserved among the records of the Van Rensselaer 
Manor, tells us, that at a later date the fort, then called Fort 
Orange, stood about where " Steam Boat Square " now is. 
From the above mentioned map of 161 6, we learn, that the 
first fort was a " redoute " of fifty-eight feet square, surrounded 
by a moat of eighteen feet width. The house in the fort 

* A certified fac simile copy of it is in the State Library at AlbaPxy. 



was thirty-six feet long by twenty-six feet width, and the 
garrison consisted of twelve Dutch soldiers. The armament 
of this stronghold consisted of two cannons and eleven 
swivel guns, throwing stones, for want of better projectiles. 

We know nothing of the life led in this wilderness by 
the first arrivals. But in 1683 an old French woman, Cate- 
line Trico, of Paris, then in her eightieth year, deposed that 
she had come to Fort Orange, when twenty years old, in the 
ship " Unity," the first vessel sent out by the lately chartered 
West India Company. After having sent part of his people 
to Fort Hope, now Hartford, Conn., and to the Delaware, 
the commander of the expedition, Arien Jorise, sailed up 
the " Great River of the Prince Mauritius," and landed 
eighteen families, the balance of the emigrants, at Nassau, 
as it was still occasionally called. These new arrivals could 
not all find shelter in the fort and were, therefore, compelled 
to build huts of bark ; probably in a manner learnt from the 
Indians, who soon flocked to the settlement, intent to trade 
and make a covenant of friendship with the commander. 

The charter of the West India Company, given in 1621, 
required them " to advance the peopling of those fruitful 
and unsettled parts." Little seems to have been done 
towards this end until 1627-8, at which time the trade with 
the Indians threatened to become unprofitable. The direc- 
tors of the Company then took into consideration a plan by 
which, through more extended colonization, they might 
derive other benefits from their Province, than those accru- 
ing from the fur trade alone. Their deliberations resulted 
in a new " charter of freedoms and exemptions," which 
received the sanction of the States General in 1629. This 
new charter provided for the introduction upon New York 
soil of the feudal system of land tenure, already in vogue 
in Canada. While the matter of this new charter was still 
being discussed, several of the directors took advantage of 
their position and secured for themselves a share of the new 
privileges by purchasing from the Indians (as the charter 



required) the most conveniently located and fertile tracts of 
land. Among these tracts was the present county of Albany. 
The proviso of the charter, requiring the purchase of the 
land from the Indians, is a prominent and important feature in 
the history of the Dutch occupation. It said, " Whosoever 
shall settle any colony * * * shall be obliged to satisfy the 
Indians for the land they shall settle upon." How different 
from the Massachusetts statute of 1633, which confirmed to 
the Indians the little patches of land around their wigwams, 
where they raised their corn and beans, and which declared 
on the authority of chapter i, Genesis, and "the invitation of 
the Indians, the rest of the land to be the property of the 
whites." Persecuted by Spain and France for their religious 
convictions, the Dutch had learned to tolerate the supersti- 
tions and even repugnant beliefs of others. Not less reli- 
gious than the Puritans of New England, though actuated by 
a policy based upon Christian virtue, commercial morality 
and the true ethics of civilization, the Dutch set up no re- 
ligious pretexts for tyranny and cruelty to the aboriginal 
owners of the soil, such as mar the records of our Eastern 
neighbors. They treated the Indians as a man with rights 
of liberty, life, opinion and property like their own. The 
strict adherence to this policy ensured to the settlers at Fort 
Orange and Rensselaerswyck a freedom from Indian war- 
fare not enjoyed by their English neighbors. Fort Orange 
was in the country of the Five Nations, whom Jesuit mis- 
sionaries, living among them, called the most enlightened, 
but also the most intractable and ferocious of all the Indians. 
They had first met the French about the time of Hudson's 
arrival in these parts. Hudson introduced them to "fire- 
water," the French, under Champlain, to "fire arms." 
They liked the former and more insidious, destructive wea- 
pon of civilization better than the latter, and transferred 
their liking to the introducer. Hence they always remained 
friends of the Dutch and enemies of the French. 



Fort Orange with Beverwyck. 

The history of the settlements out of which Albany grew 
diverges so much, although closely interwoven, that it is 
necessary to devote one part of this chapter to the Com- 
pany's settlement. Fort Orange with the village of Bever- 
wyck growing up around it, and the other to the Patroon's 
colony, Rensselaerswyck. 

Fort Orange had, in 1623, been removed from the Nor- 
man's kill to the i^lace mentioned above. The dimensions 
of this last fortification, erected by the Dutch in this local- 
ity, have not been handed down to us. But we may sup- 
pose that the stockade, put up for its defense, covered more 
ground than the first. For we know that Wouter van Twil- 
ler, while Governor or Director-General of the Province, 
had caused to be built in the fort " a handsome large house 
with a flat roof and trestlework, also eight small houses for 
the soldiers." The record says, the small houses were 
'■'■ voort Volck /' including evidently, in the term " volck, 
or soldiers," all the servants of the Company. 

The location, close to the river, was not a favorable one. 
Though it gave to the occupants a quick chance of escape 
by water, if pressed by a superior force of enemies, a con- 
sideration of moment under the circumstances, perhaps; 
yet it also exposed the structure to the ravages of that same 
river, as our fellow-citizens of to-day living in that vicinity 
can testify. A freshet in 1648 having nearly carried away 
Fort Orange, the Director-General, Stuyvesant, with his 
Council of New Netherland, resolved that for the mainte- 
nance of the Company's jurisdiction and territory it was 
highly necessary to repair the injury. The West India 
Company and its representatives on New York soil were 
not financially able to foot the bills. So the Director and 
Council concluded to allow " any decent inhabitant of New 
Netherland " to build a house in the fort twelve feet high 
and of stone, such as the former Director, Keift, had al- 
lowed to be erected. The soil occupied by such building 



to remain the Company's property, and if the owner of the 
house wished to sell the building, the Company was to have 
the preference. 

In order that to-day we should fully understand how 2, foi't 
could be destroyed by the waters of the placid Hudson it is 
necessary to remember that Father Isaac Joques, a Jesuit 
missionary among the Mohawks, saw this fort in 1643, and 
described it as '' a miserable little fort built of logs." Brant 
von Slechtenhorst, the Manager of the Patroon's colony, 
says of it, shortly after the above resolution of director and 
council, " So far as regards the- renowned fort, men can go 
in and out of it by night as well as by day." He continues, 
that " he had been more than six months in the colony and 
the nearest resident to the fort, and yet had never been able 
to discover a single person carrying a sword, a musket or a 
pike, nor had he heard or seen a drum beat, except when 
the Director-General himself visited it with his soldiers." 

To the military man of to-day, especially if he has served 
in the Indian territories of the United States, such a fort 
with such a garrison must appear ridiculous and useless. 
Yet it has for us a wide-reaching signification. The follow- 
ing account of the Indians, with whom he and his country- 
men came in contact, is given us by David Pieterson de 
Vries, " Ordnance-Master of the Most Noble Lords, the 
Committed Council of the States of West Friesland and the 
North Quarter." He had traveled extensively in the then 
known parts of the now United States, and says of the 
Mohawks: "Though they are so revengeful towards their 
enemies, they are very friendly to us. We have no fear of 
them." 

The above account of De Vries, who had been here 
shortly after the purchase and beginning of Rensselaers- 
wyck, is confirmed by the first clergyman called to preach 
the Word to his countrymen on Albany soil, and who was, 
if possible, to convert the Indians to Christianity. " We 
live," he says, " among both kinds of the Indians (Mohawks 



13 

and Mohicans), and coming to us from their country or we 
going to them, they do us every act of friendship." Need 
we wonder that the people of Fort Orange felt safe from 
Indian attacks, knowing full well that they had nothing to 
fear from the more distant French, so long as the Mohawks, 
their neighbors, had not become the allies of the Canadians. 
After the freshet of 1648 had so injured the fort, and 
after the Governor had fallen upon the strange expedient of 
having it repaired by private enterprise, he seems to have 
changed his mind and directed that these needed repairs 
should be made by the representative of the Company. It 
was to be " put into a proper state of defense," and the an- 
nual expenses of repairing were to be deminished, by build- 
ing a stone wall around it, instead of the previous w^ooden 
pallisades. The result of this order was the widening of the 
breach between the Company and the agent of the Patroon, 
already opened by the attempt of the latter to build a house 
under the walls of the fort. Van Slechtenhorst, the agent, 
forbade, " in an imperious manner," the digging of stones 
or cutting of trees, and urged the people living in the neigh- 
borhood not to do any carting for the Company, From 
this time, we may suppose, that a village — Beverwyck — was 
formed around Fort Orange, under the jurisdiction of the 
Company, which the Director-General and Council asserted 
to extend in a half circle at the distance of a pistol or a 
goteling* shot, in another place it is said 1,000 rods, around 
the fort. The name of Beverwyck is not found before 
1652, but then we learn that it had already, in conjunction 
with Fort Orange, an " inferior bench of justice," a court, 
authorized to take cognizance of cases, such as would now 
come before a court of sessions. The three judges sitting 
on this " inferior bench," were nominated by the inhabitants 
to the Director-General and Council, two names being se- 
lected for each position, and from these the Governor 
appointed the three thought to be the most fitting men. As 
* Or paterero, from the Spanish " pedrero," a swivel-gun. 



14 

they were people who had to earn their hving by farming, by 
trade or by day-labor, they were authorized in May, 1654, 
to pay to themselves out of the revenues from taxes and ex- 
cise on beer, wine and liquor, the munificent sum of 150 
florins, or $60, yearly. 

In the year 1654, Beverwyck is mentioned as one of 
the places, which with money raised by the taxation of 
land, had to assist the government of the Province in bear- 
ing the increased expenses, caused by the then raging war 
between Holland and England. Houses and lots granted 
for building purposes, were to pay the hundredth penny of 
the real value. A member of the Provincial Council and two 
impartial persons from the court of the village were to make 
the valuation. The vacant lots were ordered to be sold, in 
case the present owners neglected or refused to erect build- 
ings on them. The village, which was to be one of the 
corner-stones of Albany, had evolved from the obscurity of 
a backwoods settlement to the prominence of a factor in the 
life of the Colony. With the neighboring Rensselaerswyck, 
the other corner-stone, it could show to have the means for 
religious and school education : an element in their lives, 
which the Dutch never forgot to carry, where they intended 
to make permanent settlements. This is a point, which has 
never been thoroughly recognized. Prince John of Nassau, 
the brother of William the Silent, the Stadholder of the 
Netherlands, had recommended as early as 1582, that the 
States General should establish free schools, where children 
of wealthy and of poor families, for a very small sum, could 
be well and Christianly educated and brought up. " This," 
he says, " would be the greatest and most useful work you 
could ever accomplish for God and Christianity and for the 
Netherlands themselves." There the Puritans, who setded 
in New England, learned the blessings of popular educations, 
which according to many a writer is the invention of New 
England spirit. Our great historian. Motley, in a letter to 
the St. Nicholas Society of New York, points out that the 



15 

New England colonists gained their educational impulses 
more from the Netherlands than from their own country. 
Another eminent American writer says on this point : " Edu- 
cation came with them [the DutchJ; the free schools, in 
which Holland had led the van of the world, being early 
transplanted to these shores." 

Rensselaerswyck. 
On the 13th day of August, 1630, the Director and 
Council of New Netherland signed for Kilian van Rens- 
selaer the deed by which the Indians transferred the land 
on part of which Albany has been built, for and in consid- 
eration of " certain parcels of goods." The failure to ex- 
clude from this conveyance the territory on which Fort 
Orange proper and the huts of previous settlers stood, led 
to endless quarreling between the owners of Rensselaers- 
wyck and the officers of the West India Company, who, no 
doubt, in like manner had acquired their land from the 
Indians by purchase. The Patroon, Kilian van Rensselaer, 
was not the sole purchaser of this tract of land ; he repre- 
sented one of the several associations formed under the 
new charter, and held two shares of their common stock ; 
De Laet, the historian, one ; Godyn, one, and Blommaert 
with associates, the remaining fifth. By proceedings in par- 
tition before the Court of Holland, in 1650, it was decided 
that he or his successors should account for the rents and 
profits, and pay to the partners or their heirs their just quota. 
Under this judgment Mrs. Johanna Ebbingh, the daughter 
of De Laet, who had come to New Netherland with her 
first husband, Johannes de Hulter, received $2,304.00 for 
her share, including the " Weyland " or pasture, between 
the third or Rutten and the fourth or Fox creeks. Blom- 
maert's share was $1,440.00. His land adjoined the De Laet 
lot on the north, and reached from Fox hill (Columbia street 
of to-day) to Patroon's creek. Godyn's share was beyond the 
present city limits, and therefore does not concern us here. 



i6 

These were the foundations, to which, on the 2 2d of 
July, 1686 (old style), or 2a of August (new or present style), 
Governor Dongan granted a municipal charter as a city. 

Kilian van Rensselaer and his associate had purchased, 
through their agent, the territory, afterwards known as the 
Manor of Rensselaerswyck, on part of which our city now 
stands. This was done on the 8th of April and 28th 
of July, 1630. In the same year, but in the month of 
February, the said agent paid to Gillis van Schendel, 
for " one map on parchment (still preserved in the records 
of the Manor), and four ditto on paper, of the islands and 
other tillage grounds situate in the Colony," the sum of fifteen 
florins, or $6.00. This map tells us that Godyn's Burg had 
already been erected, in 1630, in the southern part of the 
present city, near Cherry Hill. Bloemmert's Burg stood in 
the northern part, above the Manor House. The popula- 
tion of the Colony numbered at that date about thirty to 
forty people, sent over at the expense of the directors of 
the Colony. They had early discovered that the emigra- 
tion agents best fitted to induce others to emigrate to a for- 
eign land, were emigrants who had gone before and done 
well in their new home. Some of the first arrivals came as 
paid servants or emyloyes of the directors, others to take 
up land under leases. Very little objection can be made to 
the stipulations of the first leases on the ground of feudal 
characteristics. Later, when English customs had come to 
supplant the simplicity of the Dutch, we find leases which 
had the tendency of introducing European feudalism on 
American soil. To understand the difference, copies of 
some are given here : 

"This day, the 7th of September, 1646, the presiding 
officers of the Colony of Rensselaerswyck, on one side, and 
Thomas Chambers* on the other, have agreed and con- 
sented about a certain parcel of land, lying opposite the 
bouwerie, called the Flat, on the east bank of the river, 
* Afterwards prominent in the settlement of Kingston. 



17 

between the two kills, which land he, Thomas Chambers, 
shall occupy as a bouwerie for the term of live successive 
years, commencing the 15th of November, anno 1647, on 
the following conditions : 

" Thomas Chambers shall build, free of all cost and 
charges and without claiming a penny in return from the 
Patroon, at his own expense, a farm house [dimensions of 
this and other buildings given.] On condition of receiving 
two mares and two stallions, and, moreover, two milch cows, 
the increase being on halves, * * * the rest is also 
half and half, except such as Indians may kill, which shall 
be at the sole risk of the Patroon, on sufficient proof being 
brought thereof. ***** From the summer sow- 
ing of 1647 he shall give the tenths, and then be quit. The 
last seed which he shall plant in the bouwerie he is at liberty 
to thrash without payment. * * * * 'pi-^g j-^gi^ of the 
houses, barns and fences remains at the charge of Thomas 
Chambers. * * * * z^^d the said houses, barns and 
fences shall be the Patroon's rent for the aforesaid five years. 

" In case it should happen, which God forbid, that war 
should break out between us and the Indians, and Thomas 
be obliged to fly from the bouwerie, the time that he shall 
be absent shall be allowed him and his time begin again 
from the date of his return. 

********** 

" Thomas Chambers shall yearly pay, as an acknowledg- 
ment, twenty-five pounds of butter during his lease. He 
shall make use of his pasture above and below the bouwerie 
without let or hindrance. 

" Their worships agree that he, Thomas, at the expiration 
of the above five successive years, shall cultivate the said 
bouwerie still three years more, provided he pay in addition 
to the tenths five hundred guilders yearly from the produce 
of the said bouwerie." 

Another early lease reads : 

" We, the guardians of Jean van Rensselaer, esq., have 
2 



i8 

leased and farmed unto Arent van Curler, f * * * * 
under the following conditions, the bouwerie named the 
Flat, and the hereafter mentioned appurtenances for the term 
of six successive years : 

I. The Patroon retains for himself the tenths of all grain, 
fruits and products which shall be raised off the bouwerie. 

II. This bouwerie contains * * * morgens, etc. 

III. The lessee shall be entitled to so much pasture as he 
shall require for his cattle without paying any extra rent 
further than only one guilder for every swine ranging in the 
woods. 

IV. For the cultivation of the said bouwerie there shall 
be delivered to him for his use six cows, two heifers, six mares 
and two stallions or oxen * * * and that on halves, that 
is to say, one-half of the increase shall be for the Patroon 
and the other half for the lessee. 

VI. For the use of which bouwerie and occupancy of the 
house, the lessee shall pay yearly to the Patroon the sum 
of five hundred guilders, but for the first year a deduction 
of one hundred and fifty guilders shall be made, because he 
conveys his laborers thither at his own expense. 

VII. The lessee shall be obliged to keep the house and 
buildings on the bouwerie in good repairs. * * * * 

VIII. The lessee is to cut oak or fir for the Patroon and 
haul it to the river ; also every year give three days' services 
to the Patroon with wagon and horses, and further deliver 
yearly to the director of the colony two bushels of wheat, 
twenty-five pounds of butter and two pair of fowls. 

The leases, made in English times, were different and im- 
posed heavy burdens on the tenants as the following shows : 

This Indenture, made the day of one 

thousand between proprietor 

of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck, m the counties of Albany 

t One of the founders of Schenectady. 



19 

of the first part, and 
of the second part, witnesseth, that the said 
for and in consideration of the yearly rents, covenants and 
conditions hereinafter contained, on the part of the said 
part of the second part, heirs, 

executors and administrators, to be paid, kept and performed, 
hath granted, bargained, sold, remised, released and con- 
firmed, and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, re- 
mise and confirm, unto the said part of the second part, 
and to heirs and assigns, all that farm, piece or parcel 

of land, situate, lying and being in the town of 
in the county of within the said Monor of 

Rensselaerwyck 



Excepted always and reserved out of this present grant, unto 
the said , his heirs and assigns, all mines 

and minerals that now are, or hereafter may be found in and 
upon the said farm, piece or parcel of land ; and also all 
creeks, kills, streams and runs of water in and upon the said 
premises, together with the soil under the water; and the 
right, privilege and liberty of erecting upon any part of the 
said hereby granted premises, such and so many mills and 
milldams, and such other works and buildings, for the con- 
venient working of the said mines, and for the use of the 
said mills as he, the said , his heirs and 

assigns, shall and may think proper : And also all such part 
of the said land as may, by the said dams be overflowed with 
water ; and also all such wood, fire- wood and timber as the 
said , his heirs and assigns, may find 

necessary for building, repairing and accommodating the 
said mills, and for working and carrying on the said mines ; 
and also free liberty to dig, trench or use the ground for 
either of the said purposes : and also free ingress, egress and 
regress, way and passage, with his or their horses, cattle, 



carriages and servants, to, from, in and out of the said hereby 
granted premises ; together with Uberty to lay out roads in 
any part or parts thereof, for the purposes aforesaid : The 
said , his heirs and assigns, making such 

abatement for the land occupied or employed for all or any 
of the purposes aforesaid, in and out of the rent hereinafter 
reserved as shall be judged reasonable and proportionate to 
the rent of the whole, by any two indifferent persons, (one 
of whom to be chosen by the said , his heirs 

or assigns, and the other by the said part of the second 
part, heirs or assigns,) or by such third persons as the 
said two persons in case of disagreement between them, shall 
choose for umpire : To have and to hold the said farm, piece 
or parcel of land, with all the appurtenances, (except as here- 
inbefore excepted,) unto the said part of the second 
part, heirs and assigns, to the only proper use and be- 

hoof of the said part of the second part, his heirs and 
and assigns forever : Yielding and paying therefor, yearly 
and every year, during the continuance of this grant unto 
the said , his heirs and assigns, the yearly 

rent of of good clean merchantable winter wheat, 



in and upon the day of in each 

year ; and the said part of the second part, for 

heirs, administrators, executors and assigns, do covenant, 
grant and agree to and with the said , his 

heirs and assigns, that the said part of the second 

part, heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, will 

from time to time well and truly pay or cause to be paid 
unto tlie said , his heirs and assigns, the 

yearly rent above reserved, at the days and times and in 
manner aforesaid ; and will also well and truly discharge and 
pay all taxes, charges and assessments, ordinary and extra- 
ordinary, taxed, charged or assessed; and which may be here- 
after taxed, charged or assessed to or ujDon the said hereby 



21 

granted premises or upon any part or parcel thereof, or upon 
the said , his heirs, executors, administrators or 

assigns, by any act of the Legislature, or by county rates or 
otherwise howsoever, for or in respect of the said premises or 
any part thereof, and indemnify the said , his heirs, 

executors administrators and assigns, of, from and against any 
damages, costs and charges which he or they, or any of them 
may sustain or be put to by reason of any neglect in the due 
and punctual discharge and payment of the said taxes, 
charges and assessments : And the said doth hereby 

further save and reserve unto himself, his heirs and assigns, 
the one equal part of all purchase or consideration 

moneys, or other things in lieu thereof, arising or that may 
arise by or from the selling, demising, assigning, or any how 
disposing of the premises hereby granted, or any part thereof, 
other than dispositions by devise and last will and testament 
by the said part of the second part, heirs, 

executors, administrators or assigns ; and when and as often 
as the same shall be sold, demised, assigned or otherwise 
disposed of, other than dispositions by devise and last will 
and testament as aforesaid : And the said part of the 

second part, heirs, executors, administrators and 

assigns, do covenant, grant and agree to and with the 

said , his heirs and assigns, that he and they will 

well and truly pay or deliver unto the said , his 

heirs or assigns, the said one equal part of the said 

moneys or other things in lieu thereof, arising or which may 
arise by, from or out of every such sale, demise, assignment 
or other disposition aforesaid, other than dispositions by de- 
vise and last will and testament as aforesaid ; and further, that 
prior to any such sale, demise, assignment or other disposition 
aforesaid, other than dispositions by devise and last will and 
testament as aforesaid, the said part of the second part, 
heirs or assigns, shall and will make an offer in writing unto 
the said , his heirs or assigns, of the said premises, or 

of such part thereof, and for such estate therein, as the said 



22 



part of the second part, heirs, or assigns, 

shall intend to dispose of, specifying the same, and the price, 
value or consideration which the said part of the 

second part heirs or assigns, is or are willing to take 

for the same ; and if the said , his heirs or assigns, 

on his or their part, shall within twenty-one days after such 
offer made as aforesaid, agree to take and accept the said 
premises, or the part thereof so offered at the price, value or 
consideration specified in such offer, and shall within the 
same twenty-one days pay or deliver such price, value or 
consideration, (after deducting thereout the said one equal 
part thereof,) and the arrears of rent (if any there be) 
unto the said part of the second part heirs or 

assigns : then and in such case the said part of the second 
part, heirs or assigns, shall and will forthwith, after 

such payment or delivery made, well and sufficiently convey 
and assure unto- the said , his heirs or assigns, the 

said premises or the part thereof so offered, and for such 
estate therein as shall have been in that behalf specified : 
Provided always, that if the said , his heirs or assigns, 

shall not within the said twenty-one days for that purpose 
limited, agree to take and accept the said premises or the 
part thereof so offered as aforesaid, at such price, value or 
consideration as aforesaid, and shall not within the same 
twenty-one days pay or deliver such price, value or con- 
sideration (after such deduction thereout as aforesaid) unto 
the said part of the scond part, heirs or assigns, 

then it shall be lawful for the said part of the second 

part heirs or assigns, to sell, demise, assign, or 

otherwise dispose of the said premises or the part thereof so 
offered, unto any person or persons whomsoever : Provided 
nevertheless, and these presents are upon tliis express con- 
dition, that every sale, demise, assignment or other dispo- 
sition, other than dispositions by devise or last will and 
testament as aforesaid, of the said premises hereby granted, 
or any part thereof, by the said part of the second part, 



23 

heirs or assigns, to any person or persons other 
than to the said , his heirs or assigns, or other than 

by process or compulsion of law, for the consideration of 
money or other things in lieu thereof, shall be utterly void 
and of no effect in law or equity, unless such offer thereof 
shall have been made and not accepted and complied with 
as aforesaid, and unless the said part of the second part, 
heirs or assigns, or the person or persons to 
whom such sale, assignment or other disposition shall have 
been made, except dispositions by devise or last will and 
testament as aforesaid, shall, within twenty-one days there- 
after well and truly pay or deliver unto the said , 
his heirs or assigns, the said one equal part of the 
said price, value or consideration, for which the said premises, 
or any part thereof, as the case may be, shall have been 
offered to the said , his heirs or assigns, together 
with all arrears of rent which may be then due : Provided 
further, and these presents are upon this further condition, 
that every sale of the said premises, or any part thereof, by 
process of law against the said part of the second part, 
heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, shall 
also be void and of no effect, unless the purchaser or pur- 
chasers thereof shall, within twenty-one days after such sale, 
pay unto the said , his heirs or assigns, a sum of 
money equal to one part of the sum for which the 
said premises or the part thereof so sold, shall be struck off or 
sold by virtue of such process, to the said purchaser or pur- 
chasers. 

Provided also, and these presents are upon this further 
condition, that the said i3art of the second 

part, heirs or assigns, shall not, at any time here- 

after, erect, or permit or cause to be erected any mill or 
mill-dam, or any other work or building whatsoever, upon 
any kill, creek, stream or run of water, in or upon the pre- 
mises hereby granted; and further, shall not, at any time 
hereafter, commit any waste of any kind or nature whatso- 



24 

ever : And the said part of the second part, for 

heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, do 
covenant, grant and agree, to and with the said , 

his heirs and assigns, that neither the said part 

of the second part, nor heirs or assigns, shall 

or will give or cause to be given, any manner of let, hindrance 
or obstruction whatsoever, to the said , his heirs 

or assigns, to the prejudice of any or either of them in the 
full enjoyment of all the rights, titles, privileges and ease- 
ments, saved, reserved and excepted unto the said , 
his heirs and assigns, by the savings, reservations and excep- 
tions in these presents contained : And the said 
for himself, his heirs and assigns, doth hereby covenant, grant 
and agree, to and with the said part of the second 
part, heirs and assigns, that he, they and each of them, 
paying the rents aforesaid, and performing, fulfilling and 
keeping all and singular the covenants, conditions and agree- 
ments herein contained, on his, their and each of their 
parts, to be performed, fulfilled and kept, shall and may 
lawfully, peaceably and quietly have, hold, possess, occupy 
and enjoy the premises hereby conveyed, and every part 
thereof, with the appurtenances, (except as before excepted) 
unto the said part of the second part, heirs and 
assigns, without any suit, trouble, eviction, hindrance, inter- 
ruption or disturbance, of, by or from the said , 
or of, by or from any person or persons whomsoever law- 
fully claiming or to claim, by, from or under him, the said 
; and that he the said , and his heirs, 
shall and will hereby Warrant and Defend, the said prem- 
ises, to the said part of the second part, heirs and 
assigns, against any person or persons lawfully claiming the 
same. Provided always, nevertheless, that if it shall so hap- 
pen that the rent above reserved, or any part thereof, shall 
be behind and unpaid by and for the space of twenty-eight 
days next after the said days of payment, that then, and in 
every such ease, it shall and may be lawful to and for the 



25 

said , his heirs and assigns, or any of them, at the 

option of the said , his heirs or assigns, either to 

prosecute for the recovery of the same, in some court of 
record, or in person, or by his or their servant or servants, 
baihff or baiHffs, into the whole or any part of the premises 
to enter, and there to distrain, and the distress so taken, to 
lead, drive and carry away, and the same to expose to sale 
at public vendue, and out of the moneys therefrom arising 
to deduct the rent then due and in arrear, together with the 
costs and charges of distress and sale, and to return the 
overplus, if any there be, unto the said part of the second 
part, heirs and assigns : And provided further^ and 

these presents and every thing herein contained are upon 
this express condition, that if it should at any time happen, 
that no sufficient distress can be found upon the premises, 
to satisfy such rent due and in arrear as aforesaid, or if 
either of the covenants and conditions herein before con- 
tained, on the part of the said part of the second part, 
heirs and assigns, to be performed, fulfilled and 
kept, shall not be performed, fulfilled and kept, or shall 
be broken, then and in each, and every such case, 
and from thenceforth and at all times thereafter, it shall be 
lawful to and for the said , his heirs and assigns, or 

any of them, into the whole of the hereby granted prem- 
ises, or into any part thereof, in the name of the whole, to 
re-enter, and the same, as in his and their former estate, to 
have again, re-possess and enjoy ; and the said part of 
the second part, heirs and assigns and all others, 

thereout and from thence utterly to expel, put out and 
amove ; This Indenture, or any thing herein contained to 
the contrary hereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. In wit- 
ness whereof, the parties hereunto their hands and seals 
have subscribed and set, the day and year first above written. 
Sealed and delivered. 



. , . L. s. 

m the presence 

L. s. 



26 

Reservation of the Extra Rent Instead of the 
Quarter Sales. 
Provided always, that if the said , his 

heirs or assigns, shall not within the same twenty-one days, 
for that purpose limited, agree to take and accept the said 
premises, or the part thereof so offered as aforesaid, at such 
price, value or consideration, as aforesaid, and shall not 
within the said twenty-one days, pay or deliver such price, 
value or consideration, as aforesaid, after deducting thereout 
as aforesaid, unto the part of the second part 

heirs or assigns ; then and in that case, the said part 
of the second part, for , heirs, ex- 

ecutors, administrators and assigns, do covenant and agree, 
to and with the said , his heirs and assigns, 

that the said part of the second part 

heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, or some or 
one of them, shall immediately pay or cause to be paid unto 
the said , his heirs or assigns, all the arrears 

of rent then due ; and also, in addition thereto, a sum of 
money equal to the amount of one year's rent ; which sum 
of money last mentioned, shall be exclusive of and over 
and above the yearly rent hereby reserved, and the arrears 
of rent then due, and not in satisfaction of such arrears of 
rent or any rent thereafter to become due ; and such arrears 
of rent and sum of money being so paid, when and as often 
as the said premises or any part thereof shall be so sold, 
assigned or disposed of, in manner aforesaid, it shall then 
and not before, be lawful for the said part of the 

second part, heirs or assigns, to sell, demise, as- 

sign, or otherwise dispose of the said premises, or the part 
thereof so offered, unto any person or persons whatsoever. 
Provided, nevertheless, and these presents are upon this 
express condition, that every sale, demise, assignment or 
other disposition whatsoever, other than dispositions by 
devise or last will and testament, and other than sales or 
dispositions by process or compulsion of law for debts con- 



27 

tracted without intention to forego the payment of the said 
one year's rent, of the premises hereby granted or any part 
thereof, by the said part of the second part 

heirs and assigns, to any person or persons, other than to the 
, his heirs and assigns, or to any of them, 
shall be utterly void and of none effect ; and the premises 
so sold or assigned, shall revert to and become the property 
of, and be immediately thereafter vested in the said 

, his heirs or assigns, unless such offer shall have 
been made and not complied with as aforesaid ; and unless 
the said part of the second part heirs, 

executors, administrators or assigns, shall have paid such 
arrears of rent and sum of moneys as aforesaid, and unless 
also his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, or the 
person or persons purcliasing the said premises or any part 
thereof, shall within twenty-one days after every such sale, 
demise, assignment or other disposition, so to be made, except 
dispositions by devise or last will and testament as aforesaid, 
and except also sales or dispositions by process or compul- 
sion of law as aforesaid, cause the same to be recorded in 
the office of the said , his heirs or assigns. 

With the increase of population in the Colony, the value 
of land rose and the conditions of these leasehold-tenures 
became so oppressive that disturbances of a serious character 
broke out in 1757. These troubles of 1757 were the forerun- 
ners of the anti-rent war of our times, which many a reader 
may recollect, and in which they may have taken a part on 
one side or the other. To the unbiassed mind the occur- 
rences then witnessed are somewhat of a puzzle. The tenants 
being men whom we must suppose endowed with some intel- 
ligence, entered into the leases and knowingly took upon 
themselves obligations which their self-respect ought to have 
told them they must live up to under any circumstances. The 
condition of the country required that these leases should be 
for a long term, for had the landlords of that day endeavored 
to let their lands for from one to ten years they could hardly 



28 

have found tenants for the uncultivated portions. But they 
were wiUing to part with it forever in consideration of a very- 
low rent, giving the land free from any dues for the first five 
to eight years and relieving the tenant from the care of find- 
ing a purchaser for the produce by agreeing to take it in lieu 
of money. If there had been an objection to these terms, 
how is it then that the lessees came into them with eagerness 
instead of going outside of the boundaries of the Manor 
and settling upon wild lands purchased from the Indians ? 

" In 1789, the constitution of the United States went into 
operation ; New York being a party to its creation and con- 
ditions. By that constitution, the State deliberately deprived 
itself of the power to touch the covenants of these leases, 
without conceding the power to any other government; 
unless it might be through a change of the constitution itself. 
As a necessary consequence, these leases, in a legal sense, 
belong to the institutions of New York, instead of being 
opposed to them. Not only is the spirit of the institutions 
in harmony with these leases, but so is the latter also. Men 
must draw a distinction between the " spirit of the institu- 
tions" and their own " spirits; " the latter being often noth- 
ing more than a stomach that is not easily satisfied. It would 
be just as true to aftirm that domestic slavery is opposed to 
the institutions of the United States, as to say the same of 
these leases. It would be just as rational to maintain, 
because A does not choose to make an associate of B, that 
he is acting in opposition to the " spirit of the institutions," 
inasmuch as the Declaration of Independence advances the 
dogma that men are born equal, as it is to say it is opposed 
to the same spirit for B to pay rent to A according to his 
covenant." 

So writes an actor and eyewitness of the occurrences of 1 846. 

The public generally, but more especially the lawyers of the 
country know what effect these anti-rent troubles had upon the 
politics of the State and of the United" States. They might be 
called a foretaste of the anarchism of which we suffer to-day. 



HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. 



As already stated, the "Freedoms and Exemptions" 
granted by the West India Company to all Patroons, Masters 
and Private Persons who intended to plant colonies in New 
Netherland, on the yth of June, 1629, contained the follow- 
ing paragraph : " Whosoever shall settle any colony out of 
the limits of Manhattan Island, shall be obliged to satisfy the 
Indians for the land they shall settle upon." 

This rule was obeyed in the settlement of Albany, as in 
all other cases, and as the Mohawks had made their first 
treaty with the Dutch at an early date near the present site 
of Albany, this place having been fairly purchased from 
them, it continued to be one for which they always cherished 
friendly feehngs. We may safely assume, that the social 
and poUtical system, then in vogue among the first setders, 
attracted the Indians because of its similarity to their own. 
An eminent American writer, whose family is now numbered 
among the inhabitants of Albany, says in regard to this 
point: "In all the tribes of this part of North America 
something very like a principle of democracy was the pre- 
dominant feature of their politics. It was not, however, that 
bastard democracy which is coming so much in fashion 
among ourselves, and which looks into the gutters solely for 
the "people." * * * * The Indians understood, that 
the chiefs are entitled to more respect than the loafers in 
their villages. * * * While there was no positive her- 
editary rank, there was much hereditary considerations, and 
we doubt if a red man could be found who was so much of 
a simpleton as to cite among the qualifications of any man 
for a situation of trust and responsibility, that he had never 
been taught how to perform its duties." 



30 

History informs us, how truly democratic the Dutch peo- 
ple, like all others of the same race, had been from the 
earliest days of their political existence. Now it proved to 
be a bond of union between them and their red neighbors, 
and kept the latter always well incHned to their brethren at 
Albany, who to the Indians represented the government of 
New Netherland. 

Another bond of union may appear fanciful. We know, 
that the " totem," the insignia of one family in all the tribes 
of the Five Nations, was the Tortoise or Turtle. \\'e call 
this a sneaking and stupid reptile, whose insignificance seems 
to be its highest praise. The Indians saw in this animal " a 
poem of silent hate," and when they discovered that their 
new friends, the Dutch, were animated by a similar silent 
hate of the Latin race, and had learned (during the wars 
with Spain) to bear injuries and burdens, hard and heavy 
enough to crush any other organism, they likened them in 
their minds to the Turtle, and became bound to them by an 
unbreakable iron covenant-chain. 

The men, who setded here at Fort Orange, had not come 
from their old homes in Europe for political reasons; they 
wanted to improve their small fortunes and amass wealth. 
This led them to trade with the Indians in goods, which 
injured the moral and bodily condition of the red race, or 
which might have been turned against the white settler with 
disastrous results. This was the trade in liquor and in fire- 
arms. Experience had taught the authorities that an indis- 
criminate distribution of these articles among the Indians 
might end in the complete destruction of the Colony. They 
adopted, and on the 31st of March, 1639, published an 
ordinance, forbidding " every inhabitant of New Netherland, 
be his state, quality or condition what it may, to sell any 
guns, powder or lead to the Indians, on pain of being pun- 
ished by death." Another ordinance, of June 18, 1643, 
prohibits the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians, 
*' whence serious difticuldes had already arisen." These 



31 

ordinances had to be repeated ; the one relating to the sale 
of liquors was frequently re-enacted at the request of Indian 
chiefs, who easily recognized the pernicious influences of the 
insinuating drink. 

To prohibit the sale of liquor and fire-arms to the Indians 
must be called an act of self-protection, as was the ordinance 
of July I, 1656, against admitting armed Indians into the 
villages and houses of the white settlers. But to show to 
the Indian, that he also was entitled to the protection sug- 
gested by law and fairness, an ordinance was passed, at an 
early date (May 9, 1640) of the Colony, which did not affect 
the Mohawks as much as the Indians around Kingston, New 
York and Long Island. This ordinance says : 

" Whereas many complaints are daily made by the Indi- 
ans, that their corn-hills are trampled under foot and up- 
rooted by hogs and other cattle, and consequently great 
damage is done when the maize is growing, whence it will 
follow that the maize will be dear at the time of the harvest, 
and our good people suffer want, the Indians be incited to 
remove and to entertain feelings of hatred against our 
nation. * * * * Therefore, we, the Director and Coun- 
cil of New Netherland, hereby charge and command all our 
inhabitants, whose lands lie contiguous to Indian plantations, 
to take jdue care of their cattle and prevent them, by fences 
or otherwise, from damaging the corn of the Indians, on 
pain of making good the damage and of incurring the pen- 
alty, payable to the Fiscal, according to the edict on tres- 
pass of March 15, 1640." 

One of the ordinances, relating to the intercourse with 
the Indians, distinctly says, that its prohibitory provisions 
should be communicated to the Indians, and it is very likely 
that this was the custom in regard to all such laws. We 
can well understand that the Indians, although uncivilized, 
could appreciate to its fullest extent a measure intended for 
the protection of their rights, and that in consequence their 
friendship for their white neighbors increased. 



32 

Having seen how the friendship of the Indians had been 
secured by the first settlers in these regions, we will endeavor 
to discover the benefits arising from this friendship. 

Almost at the same time when Hudson ascended in his 
" Half Moon " the river now bearing his name, Champlain, 
at the head of a troop of Frenchmen, Algonquins and 
Hurons, met a war party of the Mohawks near Lake Cham- 
plain, where " he taught them the terrible power of fire- 
arms," and, by killing their chief, "the inappeasable detesta- 
tion of the French race." To find the French on an 
amicable footing with Algonquins, Adirondacks and Hurons 
would have been sufficient to brand them as the enemies of 
the Mohawks, for these Northern tribes had been at war 
with the Iroquois since time immemorial in their simple 
annals. Added to this, the death of their chief warrior at 
the hand of the first Frenchman whom they met was another 
incentive to act constantly as a barrier against French at- 
tempts to pour in and take possession of the valley of the 
Hudson river. Actuated by this feeling of animosity against 
the French, they made the treaty with the I)utch at Fort 
Orange, and having some practical sense of the value and 
obligation of treaties they never violated it, but exerted 
themselves in behalf of their white alHes as they would for 
themselves. The New Englanders had, during th^ whole 
period of the 17th century, to suffer from the nightmare and 
actual presence of " French and Indians " with the conse- 
quent midnight slaughter and conflagration, but the hand- 
ful of Dutch, who unwittingly had taken possession of the 
key of this great continent, were protected against such 
horrors by the treaty made at Fort Orange. For the pro- 
tecting shield of the Mohawk treaty was interposed not only 
between Fort Orange and the French in the North, but also 
held up before the Mohicans along the Hudson river, who 
interfered so barbarously in the settlement of Kingston and 
Ulster county. 



33 

Almost thirty years had passed since the first meeting 
between the French and the Mohawks on the banks of Lake 
Champlain, when it was the misfortune of the brave Jesuit 
missionary, Joques, to fall into the hands of the implacable 
Mohawks. He was treated with an exquisite cruelty, sub- 
jected to tortures, compared with which the treatment 
applied by his order and the inquisition to heretics was 
child's play. The news of this capture were imparted to 
Arent van Corlaer, then agent of Rensselaerswyck. He 
tried to ransom Joques and his companions in captivity, 
but the Mohawks told him, " We shall show you every kind- 
ness in our power, but on this subject you must be silent. 
Besides, you know well, how they treat our people when 
they fall into their hands." This answer is significant of their 
enmity to the French, for we must consider the position held 
by Van Corlaer (Curler) in the hearts of the Indians. He 
had been a prominent figure in the early councils of Fort 
Orange and Rensselaerswyck, and w^as drowned in 1667 in 
the Bay of Perou, Lake Champlain, while traveling towards 
Canada. Twenty years later, in September, 1688, at a con- 
ference between Sir Edmond Andros, then Governor of New 
York and the Five Nations, a Mohawk Sachem addressed the 
Governor as follows : " Corlaer, * * * for you were 
pleased to accept the name of a man that was of good dis- 
positions and esteemed dear among us, to wit, the Old 
Corlaer." 

" Corlaer " represented to the Indians power and strength, 
tempered by justice, and as the expression of it was to some 
extent the policy of the Dutch towards the red men, they 
gave this name of an early inhabitant of Fort Orange and 
Albany to the Governors of the Colony of New York. The 
name of another Albany man, the first mayor of the newly 
chartered city, replaced that of Corlaer shortly after the Feisler 
complications. Peter Schuyler, by the Indians called Quidor 
(Keedor), had become as staunch a friend of the Indians as 
Corlaer had been, and the influence he had over them is best 

3 



34 

described by the beginning of a speech, made by a Mohawk 
Sachem at Albany in January, 1690 :" Brethren," he said, 
*' we must stick to our brother Quidor, and look on Onontio 
(the Governor of Canada) as our enemy, for he is a cheat 
* * # * Corlaer and Kinshon [that is fish or New 
England] ! Courage, Courage ! In the spring to Quebec, 
take that place and you will have your feet on the necks of 
the French and all their friends in America." The Governor 
of New York held among the Indians the title of " Quidor" 
almost as long as there were royal Governors in the Colony. 

The English authorities comprehended, that to follow the 
policy of the Dutch was a necessity for them. Hence they 
endeavored by all means to preserve the friendship of the 
Five Nations during the whole colonial period. The records 
abound in the details of conferences between the governors 
of tljis and other English provinces on the continent and the 
Indians, all or nearly all, held here at Albany. 

Early in September, 1664, the flag of the West India 
Company was hauled down, and an English banner hoisted 
in its stead. This change, very naturally, was a matter of 
profound interest to the neighboring Indians of the Five 
Nations. On the 24th of the same month representative 
Sachems of the Mohawks and Senecas met the English com- 
mander. Colonel George Cartwright, who had taken posses- 
sion of Albany on behalf of the Duke of York. It was 
agreed, that the Indians should have " all such wares and 
commodities from the English for the future, as heretofore 
they had from the Dutch." 

2. That if any English, Dutch or Indian (under the pro- 
tection of the English) do any wrong, injury or violence to 
any of the Indians, in any sort whatever, if they complain 
to the Governor at New York, or to the Officer-in-Chief at 
Albany, if the person so offending can be discovered, that 
person shall receive condign punishment, and all due satis- 
faction shall be given ; and the like shall be done for all 
other English plantations. 



35 

3- That if any Indian belonging to any of the Sachems 
(parties to this treaty) do any wrong, injury or damage to 
the English, Dutch or Indians under the protection of the 
Enghsh, if complaint be made to the Sachems, and the 
person be discovered who did the injury, then the person so 
offending shall be punished, and all just satisfaction shall be 
given to any of His Majesty's subjects in this Colony or 
other Plantations in America." 

Very litde ever disturbed the friendly relations between 
the Enghsh and their Indian neighbors in the Province of 
New York, for the English of New York, having seen how 
wise a policy it was, adopted that of the Dutch in never 
settling upon Indian lands unless they had by treaty or deed 
bought it first. 

Two years after the above quoted first English-Indian 
treaty, the French Governor of Canada entered into a cove- 
nant of peace with the Five Nations, and within a week 
after signing it he writes to the Commissaries or Magistrates 
of Albany : " But as said Iroquois have always forfeited 
their word and made use of so many extraordinary cruelties, 
it would not be prudent to lose the opportunity of destroy- 
ing them, when we have a considerable body of troops. 
Every time you shall seriously reflect on their conduct, I 
am persuaded you will be of the same opinion, since they 
fail not, after the obligations they owe us, to exercise many 
acts of hostility towards the people under our government." 

Sir Edmond Andros, during whose term as Governor, 
King PhiHp's war disturbed the Eastern Colonies, had 
learned by this war that the Mohawks and their friends of 
the Five Nations were a powerful factor in colonial pohtics ; 
hence he instructed the commissioners sent to Pemaquid, 
that, if any Mohawks should come to them, they should be 
received and used kindly, " as at Albany, giving them in- 
telligence particularly of our friends as well as enemies." 
The Southern Colonies of Maryland, Virginia and Carolina 
were neither slow to recognize the important position which 



36 

the Iroquois held on the continent. However, if the 
Governors of these Colonies desired peace with them, they 
had to come either in person or by deputies and negotiate 
a treaty here at Albany. 

Albany was, in 1693, a Uttle village of not more than 200 
houses, even though it could boast of having a charter as a 
city. But, notwithstanding its insignificant territorial extent, 
the Governor of the Province had to admit that it had al- 
ways been the ancient place of treaty, and when the Shaw- 
anees came from their villages on the Susquehannah in 
Pennsylvania to New York with the intention of making 
peace with this Province and the Indians depending on New 
York, he was obliged to refuse to hear them unless they 
went to Albany, and the Iroquois, their former enemies, 
were present at the interview. 

The result of this wise Indian policy is best seen, by read- 
ing the words, used by the speaker of the Five Nations at a 
great meeting at Albany, on the ist of October, 1696. 
*' We have become a small people," he said, " and much 
lessened by the war. If the people of Virginia, Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, Connecticut and New England, 
who have al' put their hands to the covenant-chain will join 
with the inhabitant.; of this place, we are ready to go and 
root the French and all our enemies out of Canada. * * * 
The Tree of Safety and Welfare planted here, we confirm it. 
As the tree is planted here and confirmed, so we make fast 
all root? and branches of it, all the brethren of the Five 
Nation.s and the brethren of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsyl- 
vania, the Jerseys, New York, Connecticut and New Eng- 
land." 

This speech shows the esteem, which the Indians had for 
Albany. They were then and until the enci of French 
dominion in Canada the only barrier between the French 
and the Colonies east and south of the Connecticut river. 
If they evei had made a peace with the Governors under 
His Most Christian Majesty of France, as inviolable as they 



37 

made them here in Albany with the Enghsh Governors, 
nothing could have saved the city from the Fleur de Lys 
banner. If the French had been able to seduce the Iroquois 
from their allegiance to Quidor, in 1753, at the most critical 
period for the English Colonies, and if Albany with the 
valley of the Hudson river, had been part of the French 
dominion in 1775, the Eastern and Southern Common- 
wealths might have rebelled against the encroachments on 
liberty by the British Mmistry to their hearts' content. 
They would have been " whipped in detail," like so many 
school-boys. 

The Iroquois however never would allow them, to cut 
down the Tree of Safety and Welfare, planted, and ex- 
tinguish the Council Fire, hghted in the ancient city of 
Albany. 



COMIN& EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE, 



It is not intended to claim for the Dutch nation, the in- 
habitants of the Low Lands at the mouth of the Rhine, 
commonly called the Netherlands, that they Avere the first to 
discover strength in the union of many weaker bodies, as 
the Greek poet, Aesopus, had demonstrated this truism 
centuries before in his well-known fable, but it is neverthe- 
less significant, that of all the people of purely Teutonic 
origin, they were the first to put this theory to the test of 
practice. In 1581, they threw off the yoke of Philipp II, 
the Spanish " tyrant," who had made them suffer so much, 
and formed the Republic of the United Netherlands. 

Indian war had induced the New England Colonies, in 
1643, to join issues, with the object of "protection against 
the encroachments of the Dutch and the French, security 
against the tribes of savages," and to enjoy " the liberties of 
the gospel in purity and peace." Massachusetts, Plymouth 
Plantation, Connecticut and New Haven joined this con- 
federation, from which they excluded Providence Planta- 
tion and Rhode Island, because the people of these settle- 
ments " ran a different course, both in their ministry and 
civil administration." 

The General Court of Massachusetts issued in 1690 a 
call for a convention of colonial delegates, to decide upon 
measures for the invasion of Canada. The invitation of 
Jacob Leisler, the unfortunate self-appointed Lieutenant- 
Governor of New York, to meet in the city of New York, 
was accepted instead, and delegates from Massachusetts, 
Plymouth and New York met without settling any thing of 
importance. 



39 

Peter de la Noy, a man educated in the spirit of free 
Holland, although a Huguenot, born it the Province of 
New York, who had taken part in the meeting of 1690, saw, 
in 1695, that the safety of the English Colonies against the 
encroachment of the French in Canada depended very 
much on a federative union among them. In commenting 
on the administration of Governor Fletcher, of New York, 
he says : "I wish his Majesty would place a General Gov- 
ernor over New York, New England and the Jerseys, so as 
the Assemblys Courts of Judicature and Eaws of the respec- 
tive Colonies may remain and be kept separate. * * * * 
But a union under one Governor would be very convenient 
* * * * and a terrour to the French of Canada, who 
assume a boldness purely from our divisions into separate 
bodies and the piques that are too common amongst the 
several Governors, of which the French don't want a con- 
stant intelligence." 

De la Noy had lived long enough to have seen the futile 
attempt of King James, who, in order to strengthen the 
Colonies and his hold upon them, had united all the Northern 
dependencies under one government. While serving as 
member of the General Assembly for New York city and 
county he had learned that New York Colony alone was not 
strong enough to defend the Hudson valley against the 
French, but needed the assistance of her eastern and south- 
ern neighbors ; they, however, always excused themselves 
from sending aid on the plea that they were also exposed to 
the enemy's attacks. What was then really needed for the 
safety of all the British colonies was a military commander 
with power to call out, direct and station the forces levied 
by each Colony. The English Ministers of State, to whom 
De la Noy's letter of 1695 was probably addressed, recog- 
nized this necessity, and in a report to the King, made in 
1696, recommended the appointment of a Captain-General 
over the Colonies from the Delaware to Maine, who should 
have the power of Governor of any one of them, while he 



40 

was present in it. Dissensions among the respective agents 
or representatives of the Colonies, in London, defeated this 
scheme. Massachusetts wanted that her Governor should 
also be civil chief magistrate of New York and New Hamp- 
shire, and General of all the forces in Massachusetts, New 
York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and the 
Jerseys. Connecticut protested against this, as being too 
hard on the inhabitants and contrary to their charter. New 
Hampshire was a proprietary government, and the proprie- 
tor, who acted also as Governor by royal appointment, 
very naturally objected to being so summarily superseded. 
New York, being most exposed to the dangers of a French 
invasion, failed to see how in sending her troops to the more 
populous Massachusetts she could protect her own frontiers. 

The King solved the difficulty by appointing, on the 1 6th 
of March, 1696-7, the Earl of Bellomont to be Governor 
of the Province of New York, Massachusetts Bay and New 
Hampshire, and to be Captain General of all the forces 
there, and in Connecticut, Rhode Island and the Jerseys, 
Bellomont came " out " to his government with the best in- 
tentions, and might have succeeded in set ding the distract- 
ing English and French difficulties, if death had not called 
him away within a few years. With his death the arbitrary, 
pragmatical union of these heterogeneous units came to an 
end. The New England Colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island and Connecticut had their peculiar charter. New 
York was a conquered Province ; New Hampshire and the 
Jerseys were proprietary governments ; hence the internal 
interests of all were widely divergent, while the people or 
their representatives failed to discern the benefits of a union 
and such concerted action of all against their common enemy 
at the North. 

For this reason we need not wonder, that Penn's plan for 
a union of the Colonies in America elicited very little com- 
ment. He wanted all the Colonies, including the South as 
far as Carolina to "be made more useful to the Crown and 



41 

one another's peace and safety with an universal concur- 
rence." The Colonies were to meet, by their deputies, once 
a year during the war and once in two years in times of 
peace, to debate and resolve such measures as are most 
advisable for their better understanding and the "public 
tranquillity and safety." Each Province was to send two 
representatives and a commissioner to be appointed by the 
Crown to preside at their deliberations. The place of meet- 
ing to be most centrally located, it was most likely, that New 
York would be chosen as meeting place, and therefore the 
Governor of New York was proposed as commissioner, 
whose powers in war times were to extend also over the 
military forces of all the Colonies. Tidings from England, 
that a measure w^as pending before the House of Lords for 
bringing all the proprietary governments, including Penn- 
sylvania, under the Crown, led the great Quaker to return to 
England, and his scheme was never mentioned. 

We have no right to assume that Penn, who, though a 
Quaker, was also a staunch Royalist, in devising this plan had 
any idea of its leading to a severance of the Colonies from 
the Crown. The threatning progress of the French among 
the Indians, located to the west of the English settlements 
made it sine qua non condition for the latter to meet the 
French with a bold and unbroken front from the St. Law- 
rence to the Ohio. Therefore we meet the matter recurring 
at stated mtervals. Some ten to fifteen years after Penn had 
submitted his plan, in 1 7 1 1 , the Governors of the Colonies 
from the Jerseys north and eastward, met at New London, 
Conn. This congress acted only as a council of war, for 
being composed of the Governors, acting under royal in- 
structions, they could not speak as representatives of the feel- 
ing of the settlers. This was claimed by the assemblies, 
especially the Assembly of New York, in which Albany 
county was then represented by Robert Livingston, Johan- 
nes Cuyler and Colonel Johannes Schuyler. 



42 

" A greater asserter of liberty," says Governor Hunter, of 
New York, speaking of the political condition of his Prov- 
ince, " one at least that understood it better that any of 
them, has said : That as national or independent empire is 
to be exercised by them, that have the proper balance of 
dominion in the nation, so provincial or dependent empire 
is not to be exercised by them that have y*^ balance of do- 
minion in the Province ; because that would bring y® gov- 
ernment from provincial and dependent to national and in- 
dependent. Which is a reflexion that deserves some con- 
sideration for y^ sake of another from y^ samie person, to- 
wit : That y*^ Colonies were infants sucking their mother's 
breasts, but such as, if he was not mistaken, would wean 
themselves, when they came of age." 

Politicians of to-day might agree as little with the fore- 
going assertion, as the politician of 171 1 fancied, how true 
the closing sentiment would come during the same century. 

In 1722 appeared in Tondon "A Description of the 
English Province of Carolana, by the Spaniards called 
Florida, and by the French, Louisiana." The writer of it, 
was a man, who like Penn, had proprietary interests in the 
Colonies on the American Continent. His father, Daniel 
Coxe, M. D., of London, was one of the proprietors, and 
for some years Governor of West Jersey, where the son, 
Colonel Daniel Coxe, served as member of the Council, as 
Speaker of the Assembly and as Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court of New Jersey. The book of Colonel Coxe 
is rather a crude performance, the lack of geographical 
knowledge displayed in it is absolutely startling, for the 
Mississippi river is placed within half a day's ride from the 
Pacific Ocean. But he may claim to have been the uncon- 
scious inventor of the United States, although generally 
Benjamin Franklin is credited with originating that plan here 
at Albany in 1754, as we shall see hereafter. 

Coxe proposed, that for the more eftectual defense of all 
the British Colonies against the French, they should become 



43 

one legal, regular and firm government, under a Supreme 
Governor, the Governors of the single Colonies remaining 
as his subordinates. The Council and Assembly of each 
Colony were to elect annually two deputies, nearly as 
United States Senators are elected to-day, whom the Gov- 
ernor-General had the power to convene, when necessary. 
They were to consult and advise for the general good of 
the Colonies, and to settle the quota of men and money 
needed for the common defense, from each Colony, while 
the Supreme Governor had the right to veto any of their 
acts, but could not enforce any ordinance without their 
consent, 

" Let us consider," says Coxe, "the fall of our ancestors, 
and grow wise by their misfortune. If the ancient Britons 
had been united amongst themselves, the Romans, in all 
probability, had never become their masters ; for as Caesar 
observed of tliem: '■'■diim singiili piignabant, t^iiiversi vitice- 
baiitur,'' whilst they fought in separate bodies, the whole 
island was subdued. So if the English Colonies in America 
were consohdated as one body and joined in one common 
interest, as they are under one gracious sovereign, and with 
united forces were ready and willing to act in concert and 
assist each other, they would be better enabled to provide 
for and enable themselves against any troublesome neigh- 
bor or bold invader. For Union and Concord increase and 
establish strength and power, whilst Division and Discord 
have the contrary effect," In other words, "Eendraght 
maaktmaght." 

In making these recommendations, Coxe was by no nieans 
actuated by disinterested motives for the welfare of the Colo- 
nies, nor does he claim to be so. He declared himself to be, 
through his father, proprietor of the Province of Carolana, 
stretching westward from the western bounds of Carolina, 
and covering the present States of Georgia, Alabama, Mis- 
sissippi and part of Louisiana, in the latter of which the 
French had begun to get a foothold and to make extensive 



44 

settlements. The British Colonies, with their military con- 
tingents united under one head, could have driven the French 
from Carolana, and this evidently was what Coxe desired. 

The next move, intending, however, to checkmate any 
attempt at a union of the Colonies, had its origin in Albany 
matters. Johannes Cuyler, Evert Banker, Wessel Ten Broeck, 
Francis Salisbury and others, who were or had been justices 
of the city and county of Albany, were prosecuted by the 
then Attorney- General of the Province, Richard Bradley, 
in 1723 and 1724, on the plea of not having taken sufficient 
care of the county jail. They compromised the case by 
paying to Bradley ^45, though lie demanded a larger 
amount. He gave his receipt for the above sum, and then 
continued his persecutions of the justices for insufficiency 
had inherited from him the idea of a poHtical union, for 
before the appearance of Coxe's little work, they represented 
to the King, George I, that to put a stop to a great many 
abuses and inconveniences, prevalent in his transatlantic 
possessions, he ought to appoint a FordTJeutenant or Cap- 
tain-General to govern them all. George the First disliked 
the country whose crown he had been obliged to put on his 
head, and to expect from him that he should interest him- 
self in dependencies of this country, so far across the ocean 
as the American Colonies, was to expect too much. Hence 
the recommendation of the Lords of Trade and Plantations 
in 1721, and Colonel Coxe's attempt to rouse by his publica- 
tion general public sentiment, had no immediate result. 

Doctor Coxe, the father of the author, had managed to 
interest King William and Lord Lonsdale in the Carolana 
Colony. We have no means of telling whether he had 
submitted the case to them under the same aspect of a con- 
federation of the British Colonies in America, but it seems 
that the successors of Lord Lonsdale in his official position 
of the jail accomodations, finally driving his victims to peti- 
tion the General Assembly for relief. The latter " found 
by the before-mentioned receipt that it was in full for the 



45 

Attorney- General's fees, and it being alleged that the said 
gaol has since been well amended, it seems to them that the 
present prosecutions proceed rather from a view to squeese 
some more money from the petitioners than from any just 
cause." The Assembly was, as we see, not friendly to the 
Attorney-General, who had vainly tried to obtain from the 
Province a fixed salary which his predecessor had enjoyed 
in addition to the fees allowed him. 

These efforts bearing no fruits, and the remembrance of 
this rebuke and of a former one by the same Assembly, for 
what they considered a breach of parliamentary privilege, 
infuriated Attorney-General Bradley to such an extent that 
he sent to the Lords of Trade and Plantation a long repre- 
sentation against Assemblies of the Colonies, which he pre- 
tended must necessarily aim at independence from the 
Crown. He finds that most of the steps taken by a de- 
pendent Colony to render themselves independent at their 
pleasure are taken by the Assembly of New York. He had 
discovered that the Colonies had grown from infants at their 
mothers' breasts to full-grown boys, who made only indif- 
ferent use of the privileges granted to the suckling. 

The increase of population in all the Colonies on the 
Western Continent, both English and French, showed to 
the statesmen of England the necessity of settling by force 
of arms the divergent claims of either, and the matter begun 
to be discussed in print about 1 744. One of their " schemes " 
bore the title, " Some remarks on the most rational and 
effectual means that can be used in the present conjunction 
for the future security of the trade of Great Britain by pro- 
tecting and advancing her settlements on the North Con- 
tinent of America." 

It is a curious coincidence, such as we often meet in the 
study of history, that the man, who as Royal Governor of 
New York, then opposed the plan of uniting the Colonies, 
belonged to the same family which gave to the State of 
New York its first Governor. Admiral George Clinton, 



46 

Governor of the Province of New York from 1743 to 1753, 
and Charles CUnton, father of General George Clinton, 
first Governor of the independent State of New York, both 
belonged to the family of the Earls of Lincoln, George 
Clinton addressing Charles as cousin. 

The " scheme " above referred to had in view the ap- 
pointment of a general officer to preside over the respective 
governments, who was to have the supreme command over 
the troops raised in the Colonies. The commissions of the 
respective Governors invested them also with the command 
of the troops of their Province. Clinton did not approve 
of a plan by which he himself was virtually superseded and 
reduced to a " sypher." 

The state of affairs at that date on the continent ought to 
have taught the Admiral-Governor the lesson, that, by their 
united efforts, the Colonies could soon have relieved them- 
selves from all anxieties caused by their neighbors, the 
French. It has already been said that the increase of 
population demanded a settlement of the contradictory ter- 
ritorial claims of both nations. The boundaries north and 
west had never been fixed. The English based their title 
to the western lands upon the various cessions made by the 
Indians, for they followed the policy inaugurated by the 
Dutch, of first "satisfying" the Indians for the land to be 
settled. Commissioners of Maryland and Virginia, Colo- 
nies where this New York, or better called Albany custom, 
was also a law% had bought for ^400 in gold and Indian 
goods from the Iroquois " all the territory which is or by 
order of His Majesty shall be within the limits of the Col- 
ony of Virginia." The French, mistrusting these proceed- 
ings, lost no time in beginning hostilities. Canso, in Nova 
Scotia, fell quickly into their hands ; but the soldiers cap- 
tured there and allowed to go to Boston gave such reports 
regarding the fortifications of Louisburg, one of the most 
important points in the hands of the French, as to induce 
the Assembly of Massachusetts to send an army of nearly 



47 

4,ooo men under Sir William Pepperell against the French. 
The great fortress was taken after a spirited attack of six 
weeks. Preparations were then made to invade Canada ; 
but the ministry in England withdrew the Royal forces co- 
operating with the Provincials, as they did not desire to 
rouse the military spirit of the Colonies to a consciousness 
of its strength. 

New York had been asked for assistance of men and 
money, and Governor CHnton endeavored to induce the 
Assembly to make an appropriation. In a speech to them, 
on the i8th of July, 1744, he says, referring to his meeting at 
Albany with commissioners from Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut : " The commissioners from the Massachusetts 
government had full powers likewise for entering into a strict 
union and alliance with us and all the Colonies on the main, 
to concert and agree with them upon proper measures for 
their joint conduct in the war against the common enemy 
for our mutual advantage. I earnestly recommend it to you 
to provide supplies, the better to enable me to commissionate 
proper persons with like powers for this laudable end, that 
thereby such measures may be engaged in touching the con- 
duct of the war in these parts, that His Majesty's American 
subjects may not only be safe in their possessions, but be- 
come a terror to his enemies." 

But the Assembly would not listen to these entreaties. 
They resolved, neni. con., "That as His Majesty has for 
some years been engaged in a war with the King of Spain, 
and is at present engaged in another with the French King, 
this House will provide ways and means for putting the Col- 
ony in such posture of defense as may on the one hand dis- 
courage an enemy to make attempts upon it by sea or land, 
and on the other excite our inhabitants cheerfully to exert 
their known resolution in making a vigorous defense, in case 
any such undertaking should be attempted." They had not 
a word to say of helping their neighbors, but passed with- 
out great effort bills to support the garrison at Oswego and 



48 

to fortify the city of Albany, at an expense of ^450. 
This Assembly of twenty-seven members counted among 
them fourteen of Dutch descent, of whom Philip Schuyler 
and Peter Winne represented the city and county of Albany, 
Johan Baptist van Rensselaer sitting for the Manor; and 
they now repaid the sneers and assumed superiority with 
which New England then as to-day hked to look down upon 
New York as a Dutch Colony. 

The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, ended King 
George's war without adjusting the line of demarkation be- 
tween French and English territories. In 1749? the Ohio 
Company, among whose members were Lawrence and 
Augustin Washington, obtained from the Crown a grant of 
500,000 acres on the Ohio. Its object was trade with 
the Indians and cultivation of the land west of the Alle- 
ghanies, and by that means the setdement of the country 
by a people who acknowledged as sovereign the King of 
Great Britain, and not His Most Christian Majesty of 
France. In such a population the French of Canada saw 
an always insurmountable barrier between their Canadian 
and the Louisiana territory, and therefore this they were 
not disposed to allow. Their agents had already visited the 
valley of the Ohio, and had taken possession of it in the 
name of their King, making friends and allies of the In- 
dians in that region. After erecting a fort at Presqu, He, 
which we call to-day Erie, Penn., they pushed forward to 
the Miami, susprised an Enghsh garrison there and terror- 
ized the Indians. On behalf of the latter, belonging to the 
tribes of Shawanoes, Delawares, Piankashaws and others, 
the celebrated headman or Sachem, Half-King (Scarow- 
jady*), went to remonstrate with the French commander, 
but without success. An expedition of the French in 1753, 

* In the Dinwiddle Papers (Virginia Historical Collection, Vol. Ill), 
Half-King is called Tanacharison, a Senaca chief; while the New York 
Colonial Documents, VII, call him a Delaware of the above given 
name, whom the Dinwiddle Papers claim as Oneida. 



49 

although temporarily successful, did not entirely accom- 
plish its ends. In December, 1753, Lieutenant-Governor 
De Lancey, then administering the government of the Col- 
ony of New York, was informed by Lieut. Holland, com- 
manding Fort Oswego, that the greater part of the French 
army which had gone to Ohio during the previous summer, 
numbering 6,000 French and 500 Indians, had repassed his 
post ; and further, that from two deserters he had learnt the 
fact that the French had been unable to accomplish their 
designs beyond making a few English prisoners, though they 
threatened next year to make a second attempt. The 
French army had besides suffered from sickness and had 
lost great numbers of their men from scurvy, an illness con- 
tracted through the badness of their provisions. The Indians 
to the southward had not only bid defiance to them, but 
forced from them provisions and brandy, a net result for the 
French, being the loss of many men by illness and the gain 
of two English prisoners. 

The French interest was further seriously compromised by 
the capture and treatment of the two Englishmen, who were 
sent to Canada in irons, although the Governor of Canada 
had promised to his Indian allies not to molest the English. 

Before Ue Lancey's report could reach England, he 
received directions from the Lords of Trades and Planta- 
tions to hold an interview with the Six Nations at Albany, 
although this place had become obnoxious to them. They 
reviewed the state of Indian affairs, and added that they 
think it best for his majesty's service that he should take the 
first opportunity of representing in the strongest terms to the 
Council and General Assembly the great importance to the 
Province of preserving the friendship and afiections of the 
Indians whom Governor Clinton had managed to estrange, 
and the fatal consequences which must inevitably follow 
from a neglect of their friendship. He was furthermore 
instructed to impress upon the Assembly the necessity of 
joining him as well as supporting him in every measure con- 
4 



50 

ducive to fix Indian loyalty to British interest. A speedy 
interview with the Indians was urged, as their present dis- 
position demanded and as usage and custom required. The 
neighboring governments were to send commissioners to be 
joined with those of New York, and the Governors of Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hamp- 
shire and Massachusetts were also directed by the Lords of 
Trade to represent to their respective Assemblies the neces- 
sity of this measure. When the time and place of meeting 
had been settled, the Governors of the Colonies not written 
to directly were to be notified, and care was to be taken that 
all the Provinces were, if practicable, comprised in one gen- 
eral treaty, to be made in his Majesty's name. 

This was the first seed sown for the Albany Congress and 
the Albany Plan of Union. Albanians take a pride in sup- 
posing that the schenie, upon which the United States were 
founded about forty years later, originated in their city, but 
this is the age of the ikonoklast, especially in history, under 
whose blows our idols are crumbling to powder, and how- 
ever painful it may be, we must concede the precedence to 
Colonel Coxe, of New Jersey, whose little book has been 
mentioned before. 

I)e Lancey, according to instructions, placed the matter 
before the Assembly, in which Captain Peter Winne, and 
Captain Petrus Douw, sat for Albany county, J. B, van 
Rensselaer representing the Manor, and had the satisfaction 
to receive, two days later, a resolution of the House, " That 
as soon as the season of the year will permit His Honor the 
Lieutenant-Governor to meet the Indian Nations at Albany 
to renew the ancient treaty with them, this House will make 
provision for the presents usually made them on such occa- 
sions, and also for the expenses of His Honour's voyage to 
Albany." Thereupon, " His Honour," with the advice and 
consent of the Council, was pleased to appoint, that the 
interview with the Indians be held at the city of Albany, 
on the 14th day of June following; that is, in 1754- 



51 

This date did not suit all the Governors, to whom it had 
been duly notified. Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, re- 
plied by a discussion of the subject of the French encroach- 
ments on the Ohio river, and of Major George Washing- 
ton's fruitless interviews with the French commandant at the 
fort on the Ohio, M. de St. Pierre. He further stated, that 
he had ordered out for the present a detachment of the 
militia and hoped the Assembly of Virginia would enable 
him to take more vigorous measures ; he also requested that 
the men, which New York was to furnish for mutual assist- 
ance in obedience to the orders from England, should be 
sent to Wills creek, at the head of the Potomac, early in 
March. But the consultation at Albany, he was sorry to 
say, came at an inconvenient time, for he had proposed to 
meet the Six Nations and Southern Indians at Winchester 
on the 2oth of May, and the Assembly of his Province 
will, he thinks, be backward in sending commissioners to 
Albany. Governor Dinwiddie had been only a little over 
two years in the Colonies, and apparently was as yet a tyro 
in the study of Indian politics ; for if he had been thoroughly 
conversant with them, he would not have expected the Five 
Nations to meet him at any other place than at Albany. 
The following letter sent by some of the Mohawk chiefs to 
Sir William Johnson, the New York Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs, explains the feeling of the Five Nations on this 
point : 

Canajoharie, the 2 2d Day of March 1753. 
Sir: 

Brother Coll : William Johnson wee Let you No that 
there has not Been any of the five Nations at Virginia to 
Speeke with the governur, nor Never Recivid any Present 
from the governur of Verginia Dast May, nor Any time 
after Last May. AVee Canajoharies, Onydes, taskaroras, 
Ondages Kayockes and Sinnikes Nor none of us. But Wee 
Agreed to meet to Speeke in Albany Because Wee Would 
Not goo to Loggstown in Virginia. Wee Would Speeke in 



52 

Albany that our Governour Could heare it And Wee Would 
Bee Glad to Speeke in Albany with the governur of Vir- 
ginia And Wee did not Receve any Present in the above 
Neamed time from the Governur of Virginia Ass Witness 
our hands 

P. S. — Hendrick says, that his 

they all know, that five Na- Abraham + Pieters 

■' mark 

tions gave you the Wamping, his 

to Sand bale to the governur Brant^+^Urgyadekha 

of Virgina, that they would his 

^ 4. 4. T7- • • u 4- 4-4- Hendrick -|- Pieters 
not meet at Virgmia, but att mlxV 

Albany. Paulus 



The Council of New York advised Governor De I.ancey, 
that to postpone the meeting with the Indians at Albany, 
would be unwise, and repeated this advice to Governor 
Shirley, of Massachusetts, when he also desired a postpone- 
ment. Shirley seems to have been more of a politician, 
than of a statesman, — a man, who had the interest of his 
political party more at heart, than that of the whole Province 
under his government, and in this line of action we must 
consider him somewhat of a prototype for many of our 
modern elective oflicers. 

He pleaded to De Lancey, that the meeting at Albany on 
the 14th of June, would interfere with their general election 
in Massachusetts on the 28th of May, as the commissioners, 
if any should be sent from his government, would be some 
of the Council and Assembly to be elected, and therefore 
he thinks, Massachusetts would not be represented at the 
proposed interview, unless the same was put off to July. 
Here we see the first indication of Shirley's opposition to the 
Albany Plan of Union, a modern historian, a Boston man, 
notwithstanding, who accuses De Lancey of New York, as 
defeating this plan, and says of Shirley, that he " took a 
leading part in the congress of Governors at Albany, (where 
Shirley did not come,) and warmly supported the abortive 



53 

scheme of union proposed by Franklin." Further proof 
of his opposition will be found in Volume VI of Docu- 
ments relating to the Colonial History of New York. 

I must request the reader's indulgence for diverging here 
into a few paragraphs of a polemic character, but the stand- 
point from which New England historians look down upon 
New York requires it. Being myself a beginner in the study 
of history, I may be called presumptuous to try my hand at 
correcting older writers, but the reasons for it are obvious. 
The truth about New York has never been written, for the 
writer encounters obstacles and no means to overcome them. 
The country, compared with Europe or Asia, is new. "The 
first settlers w^ere too much occupied in conquering nature 
for a living to find time for exercising their literary capa- 
cities. Cosmopolitan from the very beginning of white life 
in New York, the unity of feeHng. the pride of origin, which 
ordinarily give birth to history, could not grow." Then New 
York was first settled by Dutchmen, of whom the English 
knew very little, and whom the Puritans of New England, 
with characteristic English insolence, hated for the benefits 
and protection received in the Netherlands. We can go 
further for the dislike of New York so often expressed by 
New England. From the earliest beginnings of the Colo- 
nies, the Dutch and the New Englanders were involved in 
a boundary quarrel, which continued during the whole colo- 
nial period. Upon reference of the differences to England, 
New York was usually found to be in the right. But that 
added only fuel to the bitter fire of hate and dislike. Hence 
we see the history of New York treated with a subjective 
feeling by the historians of to-day, which is entirely un- 
worthy of them. 

As already stated, the Council of New York objected to 
a postponement of the meeting on Governor Dinwiddie's 
application, and again on Shirley's. The Indians had 
already been notified to come to Albany, and the state 
of their feelings at the time made delay impolitic. 



54 

The time appointed for the meeting drew near, and Vir- 
ginia still endeavored to have it postponed. In March, 
Governor Dinwiddie informed De Lancey that the time 
would not admit of concerting measures with the other gov- 
ernments, and he therefore hoped New York would do all 
in its power to assist Virginia in driving the French from 
the Ohio. Shirley, of Massachusetts, had seen the futility 
of further delay, and sent word that he intended to appoint 
commissioners for the Albany meeting. It appears, how- 
ever, from the credentials of these commissioners, that not 
the Governor, but the Council and Representatives of Mas- 
sachusetts voted on the i8th and 19th of April, 1754, " that 
Samuel Welles, John Chandler, Thomas Hutchinson, Oliver 
Partridge and John Worthington (any three of whom to be 
a quorum), be and they hereby are fully authorized and 
empowered to represent and appear for this Province at the 
General Convention of the British Governments proposed 
to be held at Albany in June next, and in concert with 
Commissioners from all or any of the said governments to 
enter into Articles of Agreement and Confederation, as well 
offensive and defensive for their general safety and interest, 
and for confirming and establishing the ancient and uninter- 
rupted Attachment of the Six Nations to his Majesty, our 
most gracious Sovereign, and their long and constant friend- 
ship with his Majesty's subjects on this continent." This 
insured the representation of one important factor at the 
proposed meeting. 

In New Jersey, which did not expect to suffer from an 
invasion by the French, the Assembly declined to make 
provision for meeting the expenses of commissioners, there- 
fore none were appointed. About the middle of May, 
Penning Wentworth, the Governor of New Hampshire, 
wrote that the commissioners from his Province should be 
fully instructed to join with the delegates from the other 
governments at the intended interview concerning the erec- 
tio7i of forts in the Ijidia?i country. Theodore Atkinson, 



55 

Richard Wibird, Meshec Weare, and Henry Sherburne, 
jun., appeared for this Colony. The other Colonies were 
represented as follows : 

Connecticut sent William Pitkin, Roger Wolcot, jun., and 
Elisha WiUiams ; Rhode Island appeared by Stephen Hop- 
kins and Martin Howard, jun. ; Maryland by Benj. Tasker, 
jun., and Abraham Barnes; Pennsylvania by John Penn, 
one of the proprietors, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris and 
Benjamin P'ranklin ; while New York was represented by 
its Lieutenant-Governor, De Lancey, and Messrs. Murray, 
Johnson, Chambers and Smith, of his Council. The ab- 
sence of representatives of Virginia and New Jersey has 
already been accounted for. The Carolinas felt the danger 
of the French-Indian alliances as much as their sister Colo- 
nies, but political dissensions between the Governors and 
the Assemblies seem to have prevented the necessary money 
grants. Georgia, the baby of the Colonies, was just pass- 
ing from the infant state of a philanthropic experiment into 
the maturity of a crown Province and could not be ex- 
pected to be interested in matters occurring beyond its 
boundaries. 

The city of Albany made little preparations to receive 
this assemblage of commissioners, who were to settle ques- 
tions of so great importance to its inhabitants and to the 
Province generally. The Common Council passed, on the 
9th of May, 1754, an ordinance for cleaning and repairing 
the streets before the i8th of the same month. Cleanliness 
was, as we all know, almost a monomania among the 
Dutch, and they wanted their city, then the stronghold of 
Batavianism on this contment, to appear clean to the 
strangers. 

After they had arrived and undoubtedly enjoyed for a 
while, the private hospitality of such Albanians, as by their 
social position could offer it, the city entertained them. The 
same Common Council resolved on the 2d of July, " that 
his Honour the Lieut. Governour and the gentlemen, that 



56 

attended him from New York, also the commissioners from 
the neighboring governments, be asked to dinner at the City 
Hall to-morrow. This Board has agreed with Robert Lot- 
teridge to prepare for the same at one shilling and six pence 
for each dinner and that the Commonalty pay for y^ dinner 
at their own proper cost and that the liquor be at the ex- 
pense of the city." 

The accounts show, that the wine, offered at the City Hall 
upon arrival of the Lieut. Governor, cost ^2.8. — , the 
entertainment ^14.8.4, Imagine to-day a dinner, prepared 
by a caterer for probably at least fifty honored guests, and 
costing not more than about $40.* 

Governor De Lancey and his Council held a preliminary 
meeting at the City Hall on the i8th of June. The Com- 
missioners of Indian Affairs, of whom Colonel Sir William 
Johnson was the head, reported the result of their consulta- 
tions a few days previous. They advised : The Six Nations 
should be exhorted to dwell together in their respective 
castles and the Mohawks to live in one only; the Onon- 
dagas were to cause all their friends and relations, wherever 
dispersed, to join them, particularly those who had separated 
and lived at Swegatchie (Oswegatchie), a French settlement 
of Indians of the Six Nations on the St. Lawrence. The 
Senecas were desired, to make a general casde near the 
mouth of their river, the Gen-is-he-yo-Ga-hun-da or Genesee 
river, where they had already begun to erect a new casde. 
The most effectual method, to retain and secure the Six 
Nadons to the Bridsh interest, the Commissioners of Indian 
Affairs advised, would be to build two forts, one in the 
Onondaga, the other in the Seneca country and to appoint 
a missionary to reside in each. They further recommended, 
that the sale of rum in the Indian country should be for- 
bidden, and that Frenchmen be expelled and afterwards 
kept out of the Indian casdes. 

* The pound New York currency was equal to about ten shillings 
sterling. 



57 

The recommendation concerning the traffic in rum, with 
the Indians, was a hint, upon which the Governor promptly 
acted. A traveller, whose work we must consider as an 
authority, tells us something of this pernicious trade in liquors 
with the Indians. It is true, his nationality as Swede biased 
him against the Dutch, who had so effectually squelched 
New-Sweden on the Delaware, but we have other evidences 
to show that he did not go beyond the truth in his statement. 
Peter Kalm, this traveller, says of Albany and the Albanians, 
whom he visited in 1750 : " Rum is an absolute necessity to 
the inhabitants of Albany for their Indian trade ; they use 
it to blind the eyes of the Indians, so that the latter will sell 
his furs at any price, the Albany traders are willing to give." 
The large influx of Indians to Albany, where liquor was 
used as much as the daily bread, showed the prejudices to 
his Majesty's service and the danger to the peace of the in- 
habitants, resulting from indiscriminate use of liquor by these 
Indians. De Tancey therefore issued a proclamation, 
strictly forbidding " all persons, whatsoever, to sell or give 
to the Indians any liquor during my residence in this place, 
as they will answer it at their peril. And all magistrates, 
justices of the peace, and other civil officers are hereby re- 
quired, to see that this proclamation be strictly put in 
execution and all offenders presented and punished with the 
utmost severity of the law." 

Upon the other points the Governor decided, with the 
advice of his Council, to say to the commissioners of the 
other Colonies : 

" That the treaty to be made with the Indians be in his 
Majesty's name in behalf of all the Colonies and if any of 
the commissioners would propose matters relative to a par- 
ticular government only, that it be made a part of the 
general treaty. 

" That it be principally insisted on in the conferences, to 
unite all the Indian nations and their allies in the British 



58 

interest in one common alliance and friendship with each 
other and with all the Colonies on the continent. 

" That two forts be built at the places mentioned by the 
Commissioners of Indian Affairs, and a proper garrison con- 
stantly maintained in them, and smiths to repair their guns, 
in whose hands small sums of money should be put, to pro- 
vide and give to the Indians such necessary supplies as they 
may most stand in need of from time to time, 

" And that for the securing the frontiers of this and the 
eastern Colonies, three forts be erected and maintained with 
sufficient gerrisons in them, one in a proper situation near 
the Carrying Place on Hudson's river (to-day Fort Edward), 
one on the Lake St. Sacrement (Champlain), and the other 
on the lower or further part of Wood creek (in Washington 
county), the two last being the inlets, by which the French 
and their Indians make incursions into these Colonies." 

These propositions havmg been approved by the Council, 
Goldsborow Banyar, the Deputy Secretary of the Province 
and Clerk of the Council, was directed to wait upon the 
Commissioners from the other Colonies and acquaint them 
that His Honor desired them to meet him in council in the 
the City Hall (then at the north east corner of Hudson 
street and Broadway) the next day, 19th of June, at eleven 
o'clock in the morning. Kalm, quoted already above, 
describes the City Hall of 1750 as a "handsome stone 
(brick) building, three stories high. It has a little spire with 
a bell, and on the top of the spire a gilded ball and a flag." 
The other houses of the city he found fairly well-looking, 
partly built of brick, usually covered with shingles of white 
pinewood. Tiles were litde used, presumably only by the 
wealthier inhabitants, for these tiles had to be imported from 
Holland, as the clay found in the vicinity was considered 
not to be fit for such uses. No mortar covered the brick- 
walls, but the material did not seem to suffer from this ex- 
posure to the climate. 



59 

The)^ met in the afternoon, and after they had organized, 
Governor De Lancey suggested that they should consider the 
points which they judged proper to be proposed to the 
Indians at the intended conferences with them, and prepare 
the speech to be made on the occasion. For this purpose, 
the Secretary or Agent of Indian Affairs was directed to 
attend them with the records of that office, and the Indian 
Commissioners received orders to supply all required infor- 
mation. 

A proposition by Governor De Lancy points to disputes 
having arisen as to precedence among the delegates. To 
avoid further squabbles over such a trival matter, he moved 
that the Colonies should be named in the minutes according 
to their situation from north to south, and the Congress 
agreed to it. 

The committee, appointed to draft the speech to the In- 
dians, handed in the same on the 21st of June, but there were 
as yet no Indians of importance to whom it could be deliv- 
ered. Five days more elapsed, and the Mohawks of the 
upper castle, the Canajoharie district, were still absent. 
" Brethren of Canajoharie," wTote De Lancey to them, " I 
am surprised at your staying so long from this place, where 
I have been for a considerable time. I expected you here 
among the first, as you had some complaints to make to me, 
which I have been and still am ready to hear; and I would 
have you come down immediately ; otherwise I and the 
commissioners from the other governments shall be obliged 
to speak to the Six Nations without you." 

This Castle of the Mohaw^ks had been deeply offended at 
a conference held wdth Governor Clinton at New York on 
the 12th of June, 1753. " It grieves us," had they said by 
their speaker Hendrick, " to know and hear that the Coun- 
cil and Assembly don't take care of Albany, but leave it 
naked and defenseless, and don't care what becomes of our 
Nation. You sit in peace and quietness here, w^hilst we are 
exposed to the enemy." They had also complaints to make 



6o 

about land matters, but received no satisfactory reply to any 
of their pleadings, and left the conference saying : " When 
we came here to relate our grievances * * * * ,,ve 
expected to have something done for us, and we have told 
you that the covenant chain of our forefathers was like to be 
broken. Brother, you tell us that we shall be redressed at 
Albany, but we know them so well that we will not trust to 
them, for they are no People but Devils, so we rather desire 
that you'll say nothing shall be done for us. 

" Brother, by and by you'll, expect to have the Nations 
down, which you shall not see, for as soon as we come home 
we will send up a belt of wampum to our brothers, the Five 
Nations, to acquaint them that the covenant chain is broken 
between you and us. So, Brother, you are not to expect to 
hear of me any more, and we desire to hear no more of 
you. # * * * Brother, we did not expect when we 
came from home that all our desires would have no effect." 

After such talk by one of the most influential members of 
the Indian Long House, their absence from a meeting 
called to strengthen their friendship to the British interest 
looked ugly. For we must remember that the report of the 
proceedings in June, 1753, had induced the Board of Trade 
and Plantations to order this conference, hoping, as they 
did, that the Indians might be reconciled and made useful 
in the final struggle for supremacy on this continent between 
the English and French powers. 

On the seventh day of waiting, the 28th of June, the 
anxiety naturally felt by all the commissioners was relieved 
by the announcement, the upper Castle of the Mohawks 
had arrived and desired to lay some matters of importance 
before the Governor and the Council. Hendrick, their 
speaker, plunged into medias 7'es without much of the usual 
preliminary compliments of Indian speech. " Brother," he 
said, " we thought you would wonder why we of Cana- 
johary stayed so long. We shall now give you the reason. 
Last summer, we, of Canajohary, were down at New York 



6i 

to make our complaints, and we then thought the covenant 
chain was broken, because we were neglected ; and when 
you neglect business the French take advantage of it, for 
they are never quiet. It seemed to us that the Governor 
had turned his back upon the five Nations, as if they were 
no more, whereas the French were doing all in their power 
to draw us over to them. 

" We told the Governor, last summer, we blamed him for 
the neglect of the five Nations, and at the same time we told 
him the French were drawing the five Nations away to 
Oswegatchie owing to that neglect, which might have been 
prevented if proper use had been made of that warning, but 
now we were afraid it is too late. We remember how it was 
in former times when we are a strong and powerful people. 
Colonel Schuyler used frequently to come among us, and by 
this means we were kept together. 

" Brother, we, the Mohawks, are in very difficult circum- 
stances and are blamed for tilings behind our backs which 
we don't deserve. Last summer when we went up with 
Col. Johnson to Onondaga and he had made his speech to 
the Five Nations, the Five Nations said, they liked the 
speech very well, but that the Mohawks had made it. We 
are looked upon by the other Nations as Col. Johnson's 
councilors, and supposed to hear all news from him, which 
is not the case, for Col. Johnson does not receive from nor 
impart much news to us. This is our reason for staying 
behind, for, if we had come first, the other Nations would 
have said that we made the Governor's speech, and, there- 
fore, tho' we had resolved to come, we intended the other 
Nations should go before us, that they might hear the Gov- 
ernor's speech, which we could hear afterwards. There are 
some of our people who have large open ears, and talk a 
•little broken English and Dutch, so that they sometimes 
hear what is said by the Christian settlers near them, and by 
this means we came to understand that we are looked upon 
to be a proud Nation, and therefore stayed behind. 'Tis 



62 

true and known we are so and that we, the ]\Iohawks, 
are the head of all the other Nations ; here they are, and 
they must own it. But it was not out of pride that we 
Canajoharies stayed behind, but for the reason we have 
already given." 

The cloud, rising on the sky of Indian politics and threat- 
ening to burst with disastrous results, was removed. Gov- 
ernor De Lancey, a New Yorker born, understood the 
Indian character well enough, and was so thoroughly trained 
in law that he found no difficulty in settling the land troubles 
which had caused such uneasiness among the Five Nations. 
He handled the " proud " and irascible Mohawks, of Cana- 
joharie, so well that on the 5th of July they declared them- 
selves satisfied with his promises and returned him thanks. 
• Equal satisfaction was expressed by the Mohawks of the 
lower Castle, who, on the opening of the conference, had 
told him by their speaker, Canadagaia : " We are here this 
day by God's will and your order, to which place you have 
led us as it were by the hand. This is our old meeting 
place, where, if we have any grievances, we can lay them 
open." They, too, had complaints to make about land 
transactions, in which the old Albany custom had been 
observed by the white men only pro fcrma. Surveyors had 
returned as sold lands from the Half Moon, " and so up 
along Hudson's river to the third fall and thence to the 
Cacknewaga or Canada creek, which is about four or five 
miles above the Mohawks, which, upon inquiry among our 
old men, we cannot find was ever sold." This was a case, 
where procrastination seemed to be the best policy, and De 
Lancey took advantage of the inability of the complainants 
to name the offenders. He told the Indians, white men's 
justice required to hear both parties before a judgment was 
given, and to manifest his friendship for the Indians, he 
would do them all the justice in his power. 

The limited knowledge acquired by the red men, of the 
workings of civiHzed society, made it undoubtedly hard for 



^3 

Governor De Lancey to satisfy these same Mohawks on 
another point. The Rev. Henry Barclay, a native of Albany, 
where he had been born as the son of the first Episcopal 
minister, had made his studies at Yale College in 1734, and 
after the absolution of his college course, gone to the Mo- 
hawks at Fort Hunter as catechist. He went to England 
in 1737, for the purpose of receiving holy orders, and after 
ordination, in January, 1738, was sent as missionary to 
Albany and Fort Hunter, by the Society for the Propaga 
tion of the Gospel. He returned to his native city in the 
beginning of April following, and continued his labors there 
and at Fort Hunter until 1746. When he first came to Hve 
with tlie Mohawks, at Fort Hunter, where they had one of 
their castles, he promised to continue there till his death. 
It speaks well for this native of Albany, grown up in Albany 
notions regarding the red men, that upon this promise, they 
proposed to give him a piece of ground to build a house 
upon, with a garden and a meadow. They showed him a 
litde piece of low land, which he thought too small, and he 
pointed out a larger one, as he was determined to live and 
die amongst them. They transferred this larger parcel to him 
to keep as long as he Hved there, but after laboring eight years 
among the Mohawks he left them, to take charge of Trinity 
Church in New York. He died at New York in 1764, 
superintending the publication of his translation into Mo- 
hawk of the Book of Common Prayer. The Mohawks 
could not understand that a man of scholarly sittainments 
should prefer living in civilized surroundings to the wilder- 
ness of an Indian castle. Their complaints about it were 
not attended to. Neither this nor Mr. Barclay's claim to 
keep the land contrary to agreement, suited their imperious 
character. They were, however, willing to act in fairness, 
and asked the Governor to pay Mr. Barclay for the house, 
erected by him on the land, and stipulated that the land 
should remain forever for the use of the minister stationed 
among them. Governor De Lancey explained the reason 



64 

why Mr. Barclay had left them, and promised redress to the 
Indians. Another grievance on the part of the tribe, of a 
similar kind, was settled as easily. They always had a very 
great regard for Captain Butler, who formerly lived amongst 
them, and had promised to do so always. They now saw 
him at Albany, and understood that he would not return to 
Fort Hunter ; therefore, they begged His Honor to let him 
go back. The Governor had to tell them that the company 
to which Butler belonged was sent out of the Province, and 
he could not post him again at Fort Hunter without men to 
command. That he had also a great regard for him, and as 
he was an old man and weak in his knees, he had given him 
liberty to live at his house, and should be pleased, were it in 
his power, to comply with their request. 

The Indians were apparently satisfied with the answers 
they received, for they made no further complaints. The 
proclamation concerning the sale of liquor to the Indians 
does not seem to have had the desired eftect. Drunken 
Indians may have swaggered about the streets of Albany, 
and terrorized timid women and children. To relieve them 
from the agonies of a " big head," nothing more could be 
done. But, not to destroy the satisfactory results of this 
important Indian conference, by allowing the Indians 
to be deprived of the presents, customary to be given on 
such occasions, was the study of Governor and Council. 
The most efficacious way to prevent this seemed to be a pro- 
clamation, jvhich was issued on the 5th of July, prohibiting the 
buying or receiving from the Indians the presents given by 
the government. On the same day an Indian affair came 
before the commissioners, which they could not settle out of 
hand. A petition signed by six Housatannunck (Housa- 
tonic) or Stockbridge Indians was read, setting forth that 
they were natives of the Province of New York, and that 
their ancestors were native owners of some of the lands on 
and about Hudson's river to which the petitioners imagined 
they had a right, as neither their fathers nor they had ever 



65 

received any consideration whatever for a considerable 
quantity of these lands, now occupied by white people. 
These Stockbridge Indians were of the Mahicander or Mo- 
hican tribe, and tradition does not seem to have been so 
correct among them as among the Five Nations, or for 
purposes of their own they preferred to forget, that their 
forefathers had sold their lands during the preceding cen- 
tury. Evert Lucasson had bought part of their territory 
back of Kinderhook, Columbia county, in 1665 ; Gerrit 
van Slechtenhorst acquired land near Claverack in 1678; 
Derick Wessels ten Broeck, land on Kinderhook kil in 
1679, and Robert Livingston settled with their approval and 
to their satisfaction on Livingston manor in 1683. But 
now Massachusetts people had their eyes upon the Hudson 
valley. They attempted to purchase lands long ago settled 
by New Yorkers, and hence the Indian complaints. 

The Indians had apparently all been satisfied with the 
replies to their speeches by Governor De Lancey, but some 
of the commissioners from the other Provinces informed 
him that they did not think he had allayed the Indian's un- 
easiness about their lands altogether, and that they were of 
opinion he should speak to them again on this subject, to 
discover the real sentiment of the assembled Indians. The 
commissioners founded their belief of the continued un- 
easiness upon information that several of the Indians had 
declared themselves not satisfied. De Lancey therefore 
desired a committee of the commissioners should attend 
him in council, when he would examine the Indians again. 
A sachem of each Indian nation was sent for, and De Lan- 
cey said to them, when assembled : " You remember that 
soon after I came to this place, you told me you were very 
uneasy concerning the difference which then subsisted be- 
tween Teady Magin and some Germans respecting the 
purchase of some of your lands [in the present county of 
Fulton], and that this controversy has been since settled to 
the satisfaction of all parties ; and that as to the other com- 

5 



66 

plaints which you had made at New York, as I was absent 
at that time [June, 1753!, I told you that as soon as I re- 
turned thither, I would examine into them and do you all 
the justice in my power. Now I desire you will acquaint 
me and the commissioners present, whether you then de- 
clared you were satisfied with my promise and returned me 
thanks." 

To the commissioners from New England, where the In- 
dians were always considered as untrustworthy and as inca- 
pable of understanding honest and honorable dealings, such 
straight-forward appeal to the Indians' better feeling must 
have been a surprise. The reply of the Indians to this allocu- 
tion of De Lancey can neither have failed to astonish them 
after their doubts about the Indians' satisfaction. Hendrick 
Peters of Canajoharie was again the spokesman who deliv- 
ered himself as follows : "It is true we have made these 
complaints and your Honor has told us, you were at Al- 
bany, when we spoke of them to Governor Clinton at New 
York ; we trust your Honor will do, as you have promised 
us. We, the Canajoharies, rely upon this promise and 
are well pleased. Your Honor is the head of all the gov- 
ernments present and we depend on you as our own Gov- 
ernor. But if, after a year, we do not receive satisfaction 
as to our complaints, we shall mention them again to your 
Honor and all the Governors, and if you find, after trial, 
you cannot redress them, we desire you to take the assist- 
ance of the other Governors. As we have spoken lovingly 
and friendly together, we hope everything may conclude so, 
more especially as the French (some of whose Indians are 
now in the place), if informed of any differences between 
their brethren and them, will laugh at us and endeavor to 
rekindle them." They then returned his Honor and the 
commissioners thanks and withdrew. 

The sagacity of the son of the forest, aAvakened, kept 
alive and sharpened by his constant contact with nature had 
discovered that the object of this meeting of commissioners 



67 

from the English Provinces on the continent was not alone 
for the purpose of conferring with them and brightening the 
covenant chains. There were two other matters of impor- 
tance to be discussed, and, if possible, to be setded. The 
first concerned all the British Colonies ; the second only 
New York and Massachusetts. 

For a thorough understanding of the matter discussed by 
this conference of Colonial delegates, we must cast a glance 
at their various commissions and instructions. The Massa- 
chusetts Commissioners were told by Governor Shirley to 
represent and appear for the Province, and enter into articles 
of union and confederation with the other governments for 
the general defence of his Majesty's subjects and interests in 
North America, as well in time of peace as war. The 
representatives of Connecticut were " to consult proper 
measures for the general defense and safety of his Majesty's 
subjects." The paragraph pertaining hereto in the Mary- 
land Commission said : "I [the Lieutenant-Governor of 
Maryland, Horatio SharpeJ, have had information that the 
commissioners from the neighboring Colonies will receive 
instructions * * * ^q concert measures for the better 
securing the Indians for the future in our alhance and pre- 
venting their being alienated from our interests, * * * 
as well as for the more easy defense of his Majesty's domin- 
ions on this continent. You shall, if any propositions of 
that nature are made, * * * let them know that this 
Province is also disposed to contribute to the execution of 
any general scheme to promote such desirable ends." The 
Rhode Island Commissioners were told " to meet and join 
with the other commissioners in consulting what methods 
are proper to be used to preserve the friendship of the Six 
Nations of Indians and their attachments to the British 
interest in America. Also, what else may be necessary to 
prohibit the French and their Indian allies from encroaching 
on the lands within the dominions of his Majesty, and in 
general as far as the abilities of this government will permit 



68 

to act in conjunction with the said commissioners in every- 
thing necessary for the good of his Majesty's subjects in 
those parts." 

We see that only the Massachusetts delegates had explicit 
instructions regarding a union and confederation of all the 
Colonies, although a united action ni the defense of the Brit- 
ish interests on the soil of America, is imphed by the word- 
ing of the directions given to the other representatives. The 
assembled commissioners had been in session from the 19th 
to the 24th of June, before any mention was made of a 
union of the Colonies. On that day, " a motion was made 
that the commissioners deHver their opinion, whether a 
union of all the Colonies is not at present absolutely neces- 
sary, for their security and defense. The question was ac- 
cordingly put, and it passed in the affirmative unanimously." 
A committee, comprising Thomas Hutchinson, of Massa- 
chusetts ; Theodore Atkinson, of New Hampshire ; William 
Pitkins, of Connecticut ; Stephen Hopkins, of Rhode 
Island ; Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, and William 
Smith, of New York, was appointed to "prepare and receive 
plans or schemes for the union of the Colonies, and to 
digest them into one general plan for the inspection of the 
board." Four days later, this committee produced short 
hints of a scheme for the consideration of their colleagues, 
and the matter was discussed until the end of the session. 
After all the Indian business, above related, had been 
transacted, the commissioners, on the 9th of July, agreed 
upon a representation to the Home Authorities on the 
state of the Colonies, which closes with the recommenda- 
tion : " That there be a union of His Majesty's several 
Governments on the continent, that so their councils, 
treasure and strength may be employed in due proportion 
against their common enemy." 



69 



X 



On the next day, the loth, 
of a Union was resumed, and 

Plan of a proposed Union of the several 
Colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New 
Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and 
South Carolina, for their mutual Defence 
and Security, and for the Extending the 
British Settlements in North America. 

That humble application be made for an 
Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, by 
virtue of which one general government 
may be formed in America, including all 
the said Colonies ; within and under which 
Government, each Colony may retain its 
present constitution, except in the partic- 
ulars, wherein a change may be directed 
by the said Act, as hereafter follows. 

That the said General Government be 
administered by a President-General, to 
be appointed and supported by the Crown ; 
and a Grand Council, to be chosen by the 
Representatives of the people of the sev- 
eral Colonies, met in their respective 
Assemblies. 

That within months after the passing 

of such Act, the House of Representatives 
in the several Assemblies that happen to 
be sitting within that time . . may 

and shall chuse members for the Grand 
Council in the following proportions, that 
is to say : 

Massachusetts Bay 7 

New Hampshire 2 

Connecticut 5 

Rhode Island 2 

New York 4 

New Jersey 3 

Pennsylvania 6 

Maryland 4 

Virginia 7 

North Carolina 4 

South Carolina 4 



Who shall meet for the first Time at the 
City of Philadelphia, being called by the 
President-General, as soon as conveniently 
may be, after his appointment. 



the consideration of the plan 
finally adopted as below : 

Constitution of the United States, 
adopted on the 17th day of September, 
1787. 



Article II, section I. 

The executive power shall be vested in 
a President of the United States of 
America He shall hold his office during 
the term of four years .... and be 
elected. 

Art. I, section I. 

All legislative powrers .... shall be 
vested in a Congress of the U. S., which 
shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

Section 3. 

The Senate of the U. S. shall be com- 
posed of two senators from each state, 
chosen by the Legislature thereof for six 
years. 

Section 2. 

The House of Representatives shall be 
composed of members chosen every second 
year by the people of the several states 

Section 2. § 3 The number 

of Representatives shall not exceed one for 
every 30,000, but each state shall at least 
have one representative. The 

State of New Hampshire shall be entided 
to choose 3, Massachusetts 8, Rhode 
Island I, Connecticut 5, New York 6, 
New Jersey 4, Pennsylvania 8, Delaware 
I, Maryland 6, Virginia 10, North Caro- 
lina 5, South Carolina 5, and Georgia 3. 



70 



That there shall be a new Election of 
Members for the Grand C^ouncil every 
three years, and on the Death or Resigna- 
tion of any member, his place shall be 
supplyed by a new choice at the next sit- 
ting of the Assembly of the Colony he 
represented. 

That after the first three Years, when 
the proportion of money, arising out of 
each Colony to the General Treasury, can 
be be known, the number of Members to 
be chosen for each colony, shall from time 
to time, in all ensuing Elections be regu- 
lated by that Proportion (yet so as thai 
the number to be chosen by any one 
Province be not more than seven, nor less 
than two.) 



§ 4. When vacancies happen in the 
representation from any State, the execu- 
tive authority thereof shall issue writs of 
election to fill such vacancies. 



That the Grand Council have Power to 
chuse their Speaker, and shall neither be 
dissolved, prorogued, nor continue sitting 
longer than six weeks at one Time, with- 
out their own Consent or the special Com- 
mand of the Crown. 



§ 5. The House of Representatives shall 
choose their Speaker and other officers. 

Section 3. § 4. The vice-president of 
the U. S. shall be president of the Senate. 
§ 5. The Senate shall choose their other 
officers and also a president pro tempore. 



That the Assent of the President- 
General be requisite to all Acts of the 
Grand Council, and that it be his Office 
and Duty to cause them to be carried into 
Execution. 

That the President General with the 
Advice of the Grand Council, hold or 
direct all Indian Treaties, in which the 
general Interest or Welfare of the Colonies 
may be concerned, and to make Peace or 
declare War with Indian Nations. That 
they make such Laws as they judge neces- 
sary for regulating all Indian trade. 

That they make all Purchases from 
Indians for the Crown of the Lands. 

. . . That they make new Settle- 
ments on such Purchases 

That they make Laws for regulating 
and governing such new Settlements, 'till 
the Crown shall think fit to form them 
into particular governments. 



Art. II, Section 2. 

I. The President shall be commander- 
in-chief of the army and navy of the U. 
S., and of the Militia of the several States. 
. . 2. He shall have power, by 
and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate to make treaties. 



Art. IV, Sect. 3. 

1. New States may be admitted by the 
Congress into this Union. 

******* 

2. The Congress shall have power to 
dispose of, and make all needful rules and 
regulations respecting the territory or 
other property belonging to the U S. 



That they have Power to make Laws Art. I, Sect. 8. 

and lay and levy such general Duties, Im- -The Congress shall have power: i. 

posts or Taxes, as to themselves appear To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts 

most equal and just and excises. 



71 



That the laws made by them for the 
Purposes aforesaid . shall be 

transmitted to the King in Council for 
Approbation . . . and if not disap- 
proved within three years after presenta- 
tion, to remain in force. 

That in Case of the Death of the Presi- 
dent General, the Speaker of the Grand 
Council for the time being shall succeed 
and be vested with the same Power and 
Authority and continue untill the King's 
pleasure be known. 



That all Military Commission Officers, 
whether for Land or Sea Service, to act 
under this General Constitution, be nomi- 
nated by the President General, but the 
Approbation of the Grand Council is to be 
obtained before they receive their com- 
missions. And all Civil Officers are to be 
nominated by the Grand Council and to 
receive the President-General's Approba- 
tion before they officiate. But in Case of 
Vacancy by Death or Removal of any 
Officer, Civic or Military, under this Con- 
stitution, the Governor of the Provinces, 
in which such Vacancy happens, may ap- 
point, 'till the Pleasure of the President 
General and the Grand Council can be 
known . 



Art. I, Sect. 7, 2. 

Every bill, which shall have passed the 
House of Representatives and the Senate 
shall, before it becomes a law, be pre- 
sented to the President of the U. S. ; if 
he approve, he shall sign it, but if not he 
shall return it. 

Art. II, Sect 6. 

In case of the removal of the President, 
etc. , the office shall devolve on the Vice- 
President, and the Congress may by law 
provide for the case of removal, death, 
resignation or inability' both of the Presi- 
dent and Vice-Piesident, declaring what 
officer shall then act as President, and 
such officer shall act accordingly, until the 
disability be removed or a President shall 
be elected. 

Art. II, Sect. 2. 

2 and he shall nominate, 

and by and with the advice of the Senate 
appoint .... officeis ofthe U. S., 
whose appointments are not herein other- 
wise provided for. 



The reader, after perusing the above extracts from the 
Albany plan of union and from the Constitution of the 
United States, will have seen in how far one resembles or 
differs from the other. 'v( 

When the Congress of the United States was at work in 
1787 framing the Constitution, Stephen Hopkins, one ofthe 
Rhode Island delegates at Albany, was a member of that 
Congress, and the independent spirit of another, Benjamin 
Franklin, pervaded the whole body. Albany may therefore 
claim, to have witnessed how the first germ of the United 



72 

States began to sprout within its walls. The other point, 
which occupied the attention of the Congress, was of a more 
local nature and has been settled only in modern times. 

The charters or patents given to the Colonies of the 
Massachusetts Bay and of New York, were not quite explicit 
as to their boundaries. Hence this squabble, which the 
Massachusetts delegates had been commissioned to treat 
about together with the Indian conference. Massachusetts 
claimed jurisdiction and soil to Hudson's river, which of 
course New York denied. ,On the loth of July, towards 
the end of the convention, Messrs. Murray and Smith of 
New York reported to the Provincial Council that they had 
proposed Connecticut river as the eastern boundary of this 
Province, to which the Massachusetts commissioners would 
not agree, but on their part proposed a line twelve miles 
eastward of the Hudson. This again was rejected by the 
New York delegates and the Council. advised, to propose to 
and agree with the gentlemen from Massachusetts, in the 
settlement of a line, to run northerly from the north bounds 
of Connecticut, so that it equally divided the lands between 
the Connecticut and Hudson rivers. This line was to be the 
boundary between the two governments. The Massachusetts 
men would not agree to this proposition and seemed to de- 
cHne any further conference on the subject. They desired 
to refer the whole matter of the boundaries to arbitrators. 
The New York Council, however, was unwilling to leave the 
matter to arbitration, but willing to make a further conces- 
sion in order to preserve peace and prevent bloodshed 
among the borderers. They suggested, that Westenhook 
(now Housatonic) river, should be the line of demarkation be- 
tween the two Provinces " from the north line of Connecti- 
cut, as far as the place where the north line of Westenhook 
patent crosses that river, being about eighteen miles, that 
from that place on the said river a line should be run 
northerly so as to leave Fort Massachusetts one hundred 



73 

yard eastward of such line," This was the last transaction 
of the Congress at Albany. 

After the adoption of the plan of union, the Commis- 
sioners were desired to lay the same before their respective 
constituents for their consideration. Modern historians dif- 
fer about the reception of this plan by the various Colonial 
Assemblies. " The Colonial Assemblies," says one, " were 
unwilling to concede any of the privileges either to a cen- 
tral power chosen by themselves or to one appointed by the 
Crown." iVnother asks us to believe that the eastern Colo- 
nies were most ardent for the union, except Connecticut, 
which was too jealous of the power of the President Gen- 
eral. Smith, the historian of New York, who himself had 
been one of the commissioners at Albany, calls the plan " a 
scheme, begotten in the fright of the delegates assembled at 
the repulse of the Virginians under Colonel Washington, on 
the 3d of July." He forgets, however, that the idea of 
such a union was first talked of by the delegates on the 24th 
of June, and that the news of Washington's defeat at the 
Meadows, near the Ohio river, on the 3rd of July, could 
not as yet have been known at Albany, seeing that no elec- 
tric telegraph carried then the news with the rapidity of 
lightning. Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, who had com- 
missioned Washington, received the news of the disaster 
about the 24th of July, and we cannot suppose that Wash- 
ington would have sent another report by faster runners to 
Albany, to have reached there in time to influence the de- 
liberations of the commissioners. The New York Council 
Minutes say, under date of the 28th of August, 1754: His 
Honour communicated a letter from Governor Dinwiddie, 
of the 31st ultimo, giving an account of the defeat of the 
Virginia forces under the command of Major Washington. 
This setdes the matter as to the influence on the delegates 
by the report of Washington's defeat. 

But let us see what the opinions about the Albany plan 
were, as expressed in the various Assemblies. Connecticut 



74 

declared it " would tend to subvert the liberties and privi- 
leges of the Colonists." New Jersey thought it might be 
prejudicial to the prerogatives and to the liberties of the 
people. Pennsylvania expressed no opinion, although the 
plan was discussed in the Assembly. The Assembly of New 
York, before which the plan was laid by Governor De 
Lancey, replied, in their address to the same: " We are of 
opinion with your Honour, that nothing is more natural and 
salutary than a union of the Colonies for their 13efence, 
and that it is a reciprocal Duty to be aiding and assisting to 
each other in case of any invasion, but these principles, 
your Honor, will not extend to any unlimited sense; there 
may be instances where particular Colonies invaded ought to 
exert their strength and not too loudly call on others." In 
Virginia, it was deemed to contain articles of an extraordi- 
nary nature, and an objectionable feature was, that the 
President was to be invested with large powers, almost equal 
to a Vice-Roy. Even if -the Colonial AssembHes had all 
approved of this Albany plan, it would never have become 
the law for the Colonies, as the Board of Trade were too 
much astonished by this provincial plan for a general gov- 
ernment, so complete in itself; they regarded it with dis- 
favor as restricting the prerogatives of the King. Had the 
affairs in the Colonies been different, they might have ap- 
proved the union and urged the passage of a law for that 
purpose. But they evidently understood, that out of good, 
evil might grow. The southern Colonies had so many in- 
herent causes of weakness, that they never could gather 
strength. The climate in the Carolinas, Georgia, and even 
Virginia, made the settlers indolent and unenterprising. 
Slavery was another weakening cause. The negroes almost 
equaled the whites in numbers, and a man whose acres in 
the eastern parts of the South had become sterile, would 
emigrate to the West, and settle upon fresh and more fertile 
lands there, to be worked by his negroes. In the Northern 
Colonies the population consisted of people of different 



75 

nationalities, different manners, different religions and dif- 
ferent languages. Considerations of interest, power and 
ascendency made them extremely jealous of each other. 
The Puritanism of New England was only restrained by laws 
and higher authority from persecuting the Quakers, the Dutch 
Reformed, and other rehgionists. These being the condi- 
tions of life in the Colonies, the Tords of Trade and 
Plantations drew up a plan for the union of the American 
Provinces, which they wanted to take the place of the 
Albany plan. What they proposed does not concern us 
here. The Albany plan interfered with their own, and gave 
the people, who chose the Assemblies, the electors of the 
Grand Council, too much power in the matter of taxation. 
That alone was sufficient to condemn this Albany attempt 
at self-government in the minds of the British ministry. To 
confirm these latter in their opposition to it, there came a 
letter from Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, who, as we 
must remember, had instructed the delegates of that Prov- 
ince on the point of union and confederation. He says: 
" The reason of committing to the several Houses of Rep- 
resentatives solely the choice of the members, which each 
Colony is allowed to send to the Grand Council, seems to 
be because it is proposed, that the Council should have 
power to levy taxes upon the people, which it is thought 
could not be exercised by any Council whatsoever in the 
Colonies which should not be wholly chosen by the people, 
or at least by their representatives, without raising a general 
dissatisfaction. 

" 2. On the other hand it is clear that as such Council 
can be considered no otherwise than as the general repre- 
sentative body of all the people of the Colonies comprized 
in the Union, the giving to them a share in making peace 
and war with the Indians, and concluding treaties with 
them, in the disposal of military commissions, in the power 
of raising troops and erecting forts, would be a great strain 



76 

upon the prerogative of the Crown, and contrary to the 
Enghsh Constitution. 

" 3. The command over the miUtia, power of raising 
them by warrant of impress, marching them upon any ser- 
vice, at least within the Hmits of the several Colonies, ap- 
pointing all military officers, erecting and demolishing of 
forts, declaring war against the Indians, and making treaties 
of peace with them, are vested solely in the respective gov- 
ernors of all of them, proprietary and charter, as well as 
those whose government is founded on his Majesty's com- 
mission, except in the two Colonies of Connecticut and 
Rhode Island, w^hose governments stand upon their old 
charters, by which the Crown has divested itself almost of 
the whole prerogative and transferred it to the populace, in 
whom the several above-mentioned powers are lodged, the 
Governors not having so much as a negative in any election 
of officers or act of the Legislature. 

" 4. The institution of these old charter governments in 
the Colonies, during the state of their infancy, though well 
accommodated to draw together numbers of setders in the 
beginning of the English Plantations, and for the regulation 
of each settlement, while it consisted of but an handfull of 
people, yet seems by no means well calculated for the gov- 
ernment of them, when the inhabitants considerably in- 
creased in numbers and wealth. # * * * 

" The result from these observations * # * # jg 
that if the old charter form of government, such as that 
which is proposed in the Albany plan of union, is unfit for 
ruling a particular Colony, it seems much more improper for 
establishing a General Government and Imperiinn over all 
the Colonies to be comprized in the Union." 

Shirley had been Governor of Massachusetts since 1741, 
and thoroughly understood, helped by his legal training, the 
bent of Colonial poHtics. He had done efficient services in 
America, and his opinion of the Albany plan had its due 



77 

weight in crushing this first attempt at autonomy made by 
the Colonies. 

The seed had been sown. Twenty-one years later it 
began to sprout, and the blood of the thousands of Colonists 
who fell in defense of the great Aryan principle, " No Tax- 
ation v/ithout Representation," helped the Albany plan of 
union to grow into the Constitution of the United States. 



COMMERCE THE CHIEF ARCHITECT OF CIVILIZATION. 



In 1768 Sir Henry Moore, Governor of New York, wrote 
to the Earl of Hillsborough, then Secretary of State to King 
George the Third : "As one of the motives of my late tour 
was to get the best information of those parts of the Province, 
which were most hkely to suffer in case of a rupture with the 
Indians, that I might be better enabled to give them the 
assistance they might require, I went up as far as the Cana- 
joharie Falls on the Mohawk river ; here is a carrying place 
about a mile in length and all boats going up or down the 
river, are obliged to unload and be carried over land, w^hich 
is a great detriment, not only on account of the delay it 
occasions, but from the damage done to the boats and cargo ; 
as this fall is the only obstruction to the navigation between 
Fort Stanwix and Schenectady, my intention was to project 
a canal on the side of the falls with sluices on the same plan 
as those built on the great canal in Languedoc." 

He intended to place before the next General Assembly, 
which was to meet a few months later, this plan for reaching 
the more remote parts of his government by water, but for 
some unexplained reason he failed to do so. 

This is, however, not the first time a canal is mentioned 
as planned in the annals of New York. Here again we must 
allow precedence to the Dutch. During the last year of 
their occupation, in 1664, inhabitants of what we now call 
the " City of Churches" and of New Amsterdam, found it 
inconvenient to go from Gowanus Bay to the mills, lying to 
the westward of it on Tong Island. They proposed and 
received permission, to turn a little run of water in that 
neighborhood into a passage for boats, carrying 200 bushels 
of wheat or a load of wood, and thereby avoid going round 
west of Red Hook, " where the water is ordinarily very low." 
More than a hundred years later, in 1774, the General 
Assembly of the Province passed a law, " to impower certain 



79 

persons therein named to complete a ditch, that is partly 
dug from Gowanes Bay to the East river." 

No attention was paid to Sir Henry's recommendation. 
Eight years later, in 1774, Governor Tryon brought the 
matter of canalizing again before the home government. 
He says in his report, that by a short cut across the carrying 
place on the Mohawk branch of the Hudson into Wood 
creek, which runs into the Oneida Eake, a passage could be 
opened through the Onondaga river into Lake Ontario. 
" The other branch [of the Hudson] being the continuation 
of the main river tends to Fort Edward, to the north of 
which it seems practicable to open a passage by locks, etc., 
to the waters of Lake Champlain, which communicate with 
the river St. Lawrence. Both branches are interrupted by 
falls and rifts ; to surmount these obstructions, an expense 
would be required too heavy for the Province at present to 
support, but when effected would open a most extensive in- 
land navigation, equal perhaps to any as yet known." 

A glance at the map of America cannot fail to show us 
that Governor Tryon had a correct insight into the future. 
The Hudson river is, we see, the key to the continent for 
all comers from the east, with Albany at the head of navi- 
gation. " It touches the natural pass of commerce opened up 
in the geographical configuration of this continent." The 
Dutch had recognized the importance of the river, as well 
as the French, and it had been their endeavor to keep 
the people of New England and of Canada from it, 
because the one interfered with their lucrative Lidian 
trade, while the others would have taken possession of the 
whole of New Netherland. But the Dutch and French 
dominions on this continent were doomed to short duration, 
and England, after having spent so much blood and money, 
to obtain undisputed possession, expected a return from the 
Colonies. Hence these propositions to open communica- 
tion with the system of great lakes and the for West by 
means which the configuration of the country offered. 



8o 

The time, when Governor Tryon made this report and 
suggested the important work, was not propitious for such 
undertakings. RepubUcan sentiment had become too 
strong in the Colonies, and the ministers of the Crown were 
not disposed to do any thing which would increase the 
strength of the trans-atlantic dominions. Then came the 
war of independence, and internal improvements could not 
be attended to. The end of the war and the opening of 
western lands to the disbanded army, by w^ay of bounties, 
brought the importance of better communication with this 
region again forcibly before the eyes of the statesmen con- 
trolHng the life of the new nation. The republican ideas, 
which brought forth the United States, spread to Europe, 
and caused, among other disturbances in the old world, a 
short-lived, but disastrous, revolution in Holland. Two men 
were engaged in this revolution on the popular side, and, 
after defeat, they found their way to America. One of them 
was Colonel Adam G. Mappa, who became the agent of 
the Holland Land Company ; his friend and companion 
was Adrian van der Kemp, originally a minister of the 
gospel, and here a master in chancery and one of the assist- 
ant justices of the Ulster County Court. Judge van der 
Kemp was induced to make a journey to the western part 
of the State, and wrote, in July, 1792, to his friend Mappa : 
" Our inland navigation, superior to that of many, equal 
already to the best watered States in the Union, contributes 
greatly to the increase of our commerce. * * * Our 
government, I am informed, has passed a law to clear the 
navigation from the Mohawk to the Hudson. If this is not 
correct, then it is a prognostication what it shall, what it 
ought to do at a future time. So much is certain, that it is 
resolved to open the carrying place between the Hudson 
and Wood Creek, and to clear the latter from many ob- 
s^-uctions. Several thousand pounds have already been 
consecrated by the Legislature to this salutary undertaking, 
while subscriptions for the deficit have been opened in Ab 



bany and New York with such a success that they were filled 
in a few days." We shall see to which acts of the Legisla- 
ture the judge refers. He continues in his letter to Colonel 
Mappa : " See here then an easy communication by water 
carriage opened between the most distant parts of this ex- 
tensive commonwealth ; see the markets of New York, Al- 
bany and Schenectady glutted with the produce of the West 
and the comforts of the South distributed with a liberal 
hand among the agriculturers of this new country. The 
fur trade begins already to revive, shall ere long recover 
her former vigor, when the western Forts are surrendered ; 
and if it remains shared, as it naturally must, by the North- 
western Company, this seeming loss shall be fully compen- 
sated from other branches, grafted in the wants and interests 
of the Canadians. But this is not all. It is rather the 
breaking out of the sunshine thro' a morning fog in a charm- 
ing summer day. Fort Stanwix must become a staple place 
of the commodities of the West, stored there from the fer- 
tile lands bordering the lakes and rivers, and Old Fort 
Schuyler, nearly the central part of intercourse between the 
North and West, transformed into an opulent mercantile 
city, where future Lorenzos will foster and protect arts and 
sciences, where the tomahawk and scalping knife shall be 
replaced by the chisel and pencil of the artist, and the wig- 
wam by marble palaces. Do not think that I dream, sir ! 
Fiilto Si pero, qtiando si vuole. 

"Our canals at the Falls, at Fort Stanwix, open an early 
communication between the lakes Ontario and Oneida, 
which is possible, and can thus be executed, and a large 
part of the work is peracted. Go on then and dig canals 
through the western district, and be not afraid that a single 
hair shall be hurt on the head of its inhabitants by the 
waves of Lake Erie. Dare only to undertake the enter- 
prise and I warrant the success. * # * # Give me th^f, 
the disposal of fifty New York purses, give me only the 
credit of that city, and I shall do what others promised in 
6 



82 

florid speeches ; or, art thou apprehensive that the spell of 
your enchantment shall be broken. Give me the Republi- 
can wand of Cajus PopiHus and I will go to the water- 
nymph Erie and trace a beautiful canoe, thro' which her 
ladyship shall be compelled to pay a part of her tribute to 
the Ocean through the Genesee country, engaging her a 
courteous attendance from lakes and creeks, to wait on her 
Grace during this extorted excursion, and leaving her the 
consolation of the Doge of Genoa at the French Court, ' to 
admire no object but herself during her course through 
our country to the Hudson River." 

Thirty years later, Governor I)e Witt Clinton, who was 
on intimate terms with Judge van der Kamp and called 
him " the most learned man in America," wrote to him from 
Albany : " Your letter to Colonel Alappa on the canal, writ- 
ten in 1792, is really a curiosity. It gives you the original 
invention of the Erie route, and I shall lay it by as a subject 
of momentous reference on some future occasion." 

A few months before the date of this letter, on the 30th 
of March, 1792, the Legislature of the State of New York 
had enacted, and the Governor signed, " An act for estab- 
lishing and opening lock navigations within this State." 
This was the entering wedge which made Albany the centre 
of the lumber trade in the eastern part of America. The 
Legislature of that day, not dreaming of steam-power and 
its attendants, recognized that communication by water 
between the southern, northern and western parts of the 
State would encourage agriculture, promote commerce and 
facilitate a general intercourse between the inhabitants. 
Commissioners in New York and Albany were appointed 
by this act to take subscriptions and issue stock in the 
" Western " and in the " Northern Inland Navigation Com- 
panies." Abraham Ten Broeck, 'John Taylor, Phihpp S. 
van Rensselaer, Cornelius Glen .and John Ten Broeck were 
the commissioners for Albany. The President of both 
companies was an Albanian, a man who had fought valiantly 



S3 

during the war against England — Philipp Schuyler, and 
among the names of the directors named by the act many 
Albany families were represented. For Directors for the 
Western Company were to be elected thirteen of the follow- 
ing : Leonard Gansevoort, Jeremiah van Rensselaer, Elkanah 
Watson, John Taylor, Jellis A. Fonda, Wilham North, Golds- 
brow Banyar, Daniel Hale, John Watts, Walter Livingston, 
Dominic Lynch, James Watson, Mathew Clarkson, Ezra L. 
Hommedieu, Melancton Smith, David Gelston, Stephen 
Lush, Cornelius Glen, Silas Talbot, John Frey, Douw 
Fonda, John Sanders, Nicholas I. Roosevelt, Daniel Mc- 
Cormick, Marinus Willet, Jonathan Lawrence, Philipp van 
Cortlandt and James Clinton. The Northern Company's 
affairs were to be managed by thirteen of the following per- 
sons : Abraham Ten Broeck, John Williams, Stephen van 
Rensselaer, Jacobus van Schoonhoven, John van Rensselaer, 
Abraham G. Lansing, Cornelius Glen, Henry Quakenboss, 
Robert R. Livingston, Philipp Livingston, James Duane, 
Alexander McComb, Samuel Jones, Nicholas Lord, Dirck 
Lefferts, William Duer, Peter van Ness, Parent Bleecker, 
Henry Livingston, Peter Gansevoort, Peter B. Tearse, 
Alexander Webster, George Wray, Thomas Tillotson, Ma- 
thew Scott, Zephaniah Piatt, John Thurman, Albert Pawling 
and Zina Hitchcock. 

Operations on the Western route could hardly have 
begun when the directors discovered that several of the 
provisions, restrictions and limitations in the act incorporat- 
ing the companies retarded greatly the progress of the 
intended improvements, and would make it impossible to 
complete the work within the fixed limit of five years. 
They petitioned, therefore, the Legislature for relief, and 
that these improvements, whose object was extensivel)^ to 
benefit the community, might not be impeded, an act 
amending the former was passed in December, 1792. 

The Council of Revision, composed of the Governor of 
the State, George Clinton, Chancellor Livingston, and Jus- 



84 

tices Hobart and Lansing, objected to this bill as " incon- 
sistent with the spirit of the Constitution and the public 
good," They said, the power intended to be vested in the 
President and Directors may in its execution prove sub- 
versive of the rights of private property by divesting the 
proprietor of his land in cases not indispensably necessary 
for the attainment of an object of public utility ; the third 
enacting clause of the bill not only providing for the appro- 
priation by the company of the land, on which any canal, 
lock, dyke or other work shall be constructed, but extending 
such appropriation for some distance on both sides of any 
such work, and expressly declaring, that the land so acquired 
may be applied to such uses as the officers of the company 
shall think proper. Thus wresting from an individual his 
property in a manner only justifiable in cases of urgent pub- 
lic necessity, without imposing on the tompany, to which 
his right is devolved, as a duty, that it shall be sacredly ap- 
plied only to the advancements of those interests of the 
company in which its private emolument is inseparably con- 
nected with the effectual promotion of the public good. 
They further objected to this bill, because previous to 
executing or even obtaining a writ of ad quod dammun, the 
bill authorizes the President and Directors, or their agents, 
to enter upon, dig, trench and use the land of any citizen 
without his permission, thus sanctioning a destruction of 
timber and improvements, before proper precautions have 
been taken to ascertain the amount of the injury sustained 
and in many instances depriving the party affected by such 
proceedings of the most conclusive proof of the extent of 
that injury, arising from a relative comparison of the several 
parts of the lands on which works are constructed, and 
those adjoining them, and a collective view of the state of 
the improvements rendered useless by the appropriations 
made by the Presidents and Directors. 

The Assembly voted, that, notwithstanding these objec- 
tions, the bill should become a law of the State. Legisla- 



8s 

tures were then, as to-day, liable to be influenced by big 
corporations, but the two Inland Lock Navigation Com- 
panies, in whose favor this law was enacted, were not suffi- 
ciently benefited, and had again to petition the Legislature 
for relief, within fifteen months. Their funds had proved in- 
adequate to the undertaking and carrying into effect a design 
so extensive in its nature, and unavoidably attended with very 
considerable expenses. They had found it impossible to float 
the shares of stock, Hmited by the incorporating act to i,ooo; of 
the stock of the Northern Company only 672, of the Western, 
738 had been subscribed by 277 persons; although ^10 
had been paid on each share by the original subscribers, yet 
many of the 277 had since neglected or refused to pay a 
subsequent call of additional ,-£10. By the deficiency of the 
unsubscribed shares, the expense to complete the objects con- 
templated by the Legislature, threatened to amount to more 
than many could afford. The failure of many of the sub- 
scribers to respond to the second call, had reduced the 
number of active shares in each company to 600. The 
committee of the Assembly, to whom this petition had been 
referred, recognized, that the object for which the companies 
had been cafled into life, was of very extensive national con- 
cern and proposed that the State should become stockholder 
to the amount of 590 shares, the defect of the stock of both 
companies, or loan to the corporations a sum equal to these 
shares, under proper conditions of repayment and security. 
When the matter came before a committee of the whole 
House, opinions diflered as to the mode of relief to be 
granted. All members seemed to be convinced, that an 
undertaking of such importance, deserved to be aided by 
the State. The result, however, would have been satisfac- 
tory to the companies. The same day "An act relative to 
the Western and Northern Liland Lock Navigation " was 
brought in and read the first time. It passed the second 
reading two days later, on the 24th of March, 1794, but 
shortly after, on the 27th, the House resolved, "As the 



86 

sense of this House, that the Inland Lock Navigation is of 
high importance to the prosperity of this State and is pro- 
motive of the agricultural, and commercial interest thereof, 
and as such that it merits legislative aid and attention. 
That from the advanced period of the present session, the 
Legislature cannot give the subject the consideration its im- 
portance requires, but that it be recommended to the Legis- 
lature at their next meeting, as a proper object of their early 
attention and support." Fearing, perhaps, that this recom- 
mendation to the next Legislature might not be made or 
overlooked by that body, the companies by their President, 
Philipp Schuyler, laid the matter before the Assembly of 
1795, presided over by an Albanian, William North. The 
scheme of canalizing had in the meantime found only little 
favor in the eyes of capitalists, the number of shares taken 
had increased from 738 to 742 in the Western Company and 
from 672 to 676 in the Northern. Many of them appeared 
to have been taken from the mere motive of speculating 
upon the probable rise in the market. Such a rise not 
taking place and the directors having been obliged to make 
another call for money, 233 shareholders of the Western and 
242 of the Northern failed to respond, and forfeited their 
stock. Notwithstanding the serious embarrassments, caused 
hereby and others, unavoidably incident to a work so novel 
in the young country, the business of the companies had 
progressed so far as to demonstrate the practicability of 
effecting their purposes. 

The waters of Wood creek emptying into Oneida lake, 
and of its namesake, which empties into Lake Champlain, 
had been cleared from obstructions, the course of the canals 
traced, a canal and lock were prepared for connecting Lake 
Champlain with Wood creek, and others had been erected 
at the falls in Herkimer county. The officers of the com- 
panies were confident that nothing but the want of funds 
could prevent their being able within a reasonable period to 
complete the inland navigation to the westward and to the 



«7 

northward, whereby a new band of union would be formed 
between the most distant parts of the State, their mutual 
intercourse promoted and encouraged, the value of prop- 
erty greatly enhanced and the commerce of the whole not 
only extended, but secured from those channels into which 
it might otherwise be turned, to the great injury of agricul- 
ture and commerce of this State. The Legislature was 
asked to assist, either by directing a subscription on the part 
of the State to the deficient shares in these companies or by 
loaning to each company the annual sum of ^6,000 for five 
years successively, to be repaid pro rata from such annual 
dividends as might arise from tolls. On the 9th of March, a 
law was enacted further " to amend the law relative to the 
Inland Lock Navigation Companies," and on the 31st of the 
same month the "Act for the more effectual prosecution of the 
improvements commenced " by these companies, authorized 
the Treasurer of the State to subscribe, on behalf of the 
State, to 200 shares of stock in each company. In 1796, 
the Legislature again opened the purse of the State in favor 
of the Western Company, by directing the Treasurer to 
advance to the corporation the sum of ^15,000. Even this 
apparently unasked-for aid was not sufficient to keep the 
Western Inland Lock Navigation on its legs. The very 
high price of labor had prevented them from obtaining as 
many workmen as they had contemplated to employ during 
the open season of 1796 in order to complete the canal, 
connecting the waters of the Mohawk river with those of 
Wood creek. Many of the men in their employ were lured 
away by higher wages elsewhere. Nevertheless, sufficient 
progress had been made in excavating the canal and in other 
works incident thereto that no doubt remained, but it could 
be effected in a year with the requisite locks, of which one 
had already been erected. 

But nature had interposed impediments, to remove which 
required the expenditure of more money than the company 
could command. Surveys made of the Mohawk river 



showed that the rapids between Schenectady and Schoharie 
creek, a distance of twenty miles, were so many, so shallow 
and impeded with so many rocks, that although it could be 
made as navigable as the act of incorporation required, yet 
it would be a navigation so imperfect as not to afford all 
the advantages to the community as were desirable. A 
canal was, therefore, proposed on the south side of the 
Mohawk, between the two places mentioned, which it was 
estimated would cost $250,000. The company had a pros- 
pect of obtaining this sum by a loan on reasonable terms, 
or by a subscription of an equivalent in shares of the stock, 
from persons resident in Holland who had purchased land 
in this State. This Holland Land Company was willing to 
advance the money, provided that the Legislature would 
permit them to hold the lands so purchased as tenants in 
common in fee-simple, subject to the condition not to sell 
any part or parts thereof except to citizens of the State or 
of the United States. The petition was read in the Assem- 
bly on the 17th of February, 1797, and on the 17th of 
March following, "An act providing a means for procuring 
a sum to the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, 
to enable them more effectually and speedily to prosecute 
the improvements in the said navigation," was signed by the 
Governor. At the same time the measures prayed for in 
regard to the Holland Land Company became a law. 

A few years passed, during which the Western Company 
was not in financial difficulties. It was now the turn of the 
Northern Company to be brought to the attention of the 
Legislature. They had cut a canal through the land of in- 
habitants of the village of Stillwater, in Saratoga county, 
and were unable to pay for the damage done to the prop- 
erty, and properly ascertained by competent arbitrators. 
The State had become a stockholder of this company, and, 
pending its insolvency, the party aggrieved looked to the 
Legislature for relief. This was a case of the nature which 
Governor Clinton and the Council of Revision had forseen 



89 

when they objected to the law of 1792. The Assembly of 
1799 did not feel able to cope with this question without the 
legal opinion of the law officer of the State. The then 
Attorney-General, Joseph Ogden Hoffinan, decided : 
" Upon principles of law, the private property of the stock- 
holders of this corporation cannot be held liable for the 
debts of the company, and the State on this occasion can 
only be considered in the situation of a stockholder to the 
extent of the shares subscribed and taken, and its separate 
funds are not responsible for demands upon the company. 
* * * # gy tj^g ^^^ Qf |-|-^g ^jg|- March, 1795, the 
Treasurer is considered as a stockholder, and is directed to 
pay such further sums on each share to be subscribed by 
him, as may be so required. The directors of the com- 
pany have not recently made any such requisition, and if 
they were now to order one, there is good reason to con- 
clude that most of the shares, held by individuals, would 
become forfeited, and that the Treasurer, by the terms of 
the last act, would comply with such requisition. It ought 
not, therefore, to escape observation that, while such an 
arrangement might enable the directors to satisfy the pres- 
ent and all other demands against the company, yet in effect 
such satisfaction would be made by the State. A consider- 
ation of this circumstance, it is to be presumed, has gov- 
erned the recent conduct of the directors in delaying any 
new rec^uisitions." 

The extension of the settlements on the Lakes, and the 
rapid improvement of the western part of this State, fully 
justified the liberal views which dictated the opening a 
navigation adapted to afford a conveyance for the ample 
products of that fertile region, and for the necessaries and 
conveniences of life, which the manufactories of the towns, 
or the resources of foreign commerce, enabled the inhabit- 
ants of the earlier settled parts of the country to supply. 
The mode of conveyance, then in use, is somewhere called 



9° 

" commodious." To-day we would grumble and sneer at 
the frugality of our forefathers. 

Before the canal at the falls in Herkimer county had been 
constructed, in 1795, every boat bound up or downwards, 
with all its cargo, was taken out of the river and conveyed 
on wagons over the carrying place, on a road as rough and 
as rocky as could well consist with its being passable. The 
boats thus transferred could not be large, and seldom ex- 
ceeded the burthen of a ton and a half. If any arrived 
singly at the landing on either side of the falls, it could usu- 
ally not be conveyed with its cargo to the other side in less 
than half a day. If other boats arrived about the same 
time, a longer period was required in proportion to the num- 
ber of vessels, and frequently it happened that there was a 
detention of two days. Hence, as every boat was navigated 
by three men, the shortest detention involved the loss of the 
wages of one man for one day and a half. 

The unequal surface of the road, the unwieldy bulk of 
the boats, the exposure of the cargoes to the injuries of 
the weather, and the unloading and reloading, frequently 
entailed great injuries and loss. Disappointments, oc- 
casioned by loss and delay, were often very severely felt ; 
but since the canals had been completed, a boat with its 
cargo could pass through the canal in either direction in less 
than an hour, and a number of boats arriving at the same 
time could be locked through successively at intervals of 
only eight minutes. Now, boats carrying from eight to ten 
tons could be and were employed between Schenectady and 
Rome, and the expense of transportation by these means 
alone was reduced more than one-half; and after an im- 
provement of the navigation on Wood creek had been 
made, boats could easily and safely go to the most southern 
parts of Cayuga lake. The transportation at the falls, 
previous to the completion of the canal in 1795, cost four 
shilUngs (50 cents) for a boat,- and the like sum for a 
wagon-load ; but the road would not admit of carry- 



ing half a ton in a wagon, and as the price of all 
kinds of labor had been considerably increased since 
that period, in this instance probably 75 per cent, this 
amounted to the toll charged on half a ton, not only for 
passing the locks at the falls, but also the Burnetstield locks, 
in Herkimer county, at which no toll was asked. It was 
evident that not only all the expenses resulting from deten- 
tion, from loss of articles, from injuries to the boats and 
cargoes were now saved, but the charge of transportation 
was also greatly diminished by the facility afforded for the 
passage of larger boats. 

Consideration of these benefits, which had accrued to the 
State and to the public generally, induced the Legislature 
of 1802 to enact a new law for the relief of the Western 
Inland Lock Navigation Company. The Comptroller was 
authorized to accept shares of the stock of the company for 
money due to the State ; delinquent shareholders were re- 
admitted by paying arrears and " watering " stock, a very 
proper proceeding for a company dealing so largely in water 
and water works, was legalized. The company received 
permission to divide each original share into three, and the 
new shares were to represent $120. 

The Legislature then, ever attentive to the prosperity of 
the State, readily perceived the great advantage that had 
already accrued to the public by means of the improve- 
ments made up to 1806, and being convinced of the hard- 
ships and inconveniences under which the individual stock- 
holders labored by not deriving any interest for many years 
on the moneys already advanced, granted further relief to 
the company by extending the time for completing the work 
to January i, 1808. 

When the year 1808 came around, the company deemed 
it the wisest policy to surrender to the State that part of 
their grant which allowed them to continue the canalizing 
west of Oneida lake, and the Legislature accepted the sur- 
render. This was virtually the end of improving the inland 



92 

navigation of the State by private parties. The Albany 
members of the Board of Directors had died, and the duty 
of managing the affairs of the companies had been trans- 
ferred to men principally living in the city of New York, 
who could not or would not give that necessary personal 
attention, which alone could insure success. 

To understand the action of the Legislature in the follow- 
ing years, we must study the statistics of population in the 
State at that period. When the first move was made in 
1 79 1, the State was divided into twenty counties; the popu- 
lation not warranting a division of the territory into more. 
Two had been added in 1795, when a census of the voters 
in the State was taken. This census of voters showed, that 
in a total of 64,017 for the State, there were 31,393 living in 
counties directly affected by the easier communication 
which the canals offered. In 1801 the voting population of 
the State had increased to 85,844, the number of counties 
to thirty, of which only twelve were not contiguous to the 
canals, and the voters in these thirty counties numbered 47,- 
462. When the next census of voters was taken, in 1807, 
we find a voting population in the State of 1 10,997, ^^ which 
the canal counties furnished 58,345, and thirty-eight counties 
were represented in the Legislature. Seven counties were 
added in the years 1808 and 1809, all, with the exception of 
twelve, more or less interested in having easy means of com- 
munication with the markets for their produce or their 
necessities. The Assembly of 1 795 was composed of seventy 
members, twenty-eight of whom came from counties directly 
touched or like Albany and Rensselaer counties benefited 
by the canals. In 1801, of the 107 members sitting in the 
Assembly, fifty-one came from these counties, while of the 
112 members of the Assembly in 1810, seventy-four repre- 
sented constituencies, who derived benefits from the inland 
navigation. This Legislature of 1810 authorized the ap- 
pointment of commissioners to explore a canal route between 
the Hudson river and Lake Erie. It was the first scene in 



93 

the first act of the great drama which ended in the final scene 
of opening the Erie canal on the 26th of October, 1825. 

Commercial statistics tell us, what significance the Erie 
canal had in the development of the United States. The 
returns for 1870 enumerate 28,138 vessels as belonging to 
the various customs districts of the country. Of these the 
State of New York had 6,977 or more than one-fourth, 
while ports on the lakes Erie and Ontario could claim 3,439 
as belonging there. Nearly all these lake vessels depend for 
their trade on the craft plying on the canal, and paying, in 
1870, for tolls into the treasury of the State, the sum of 
$3,107,138.90. A further inquiry, which, however, would 
lead too far in explaining, would show that New York 
furnishes over one-third of the American tonnage and of the 
capital invested in the lake trade in consequence of the con- 
nection of the lakes with the Hudson at Albany. The trade 
from and to the West, just then barely opened, threatened 
to find an outlet to Europe and other countries by way of 
Montreal and the St. Lawrence river. This trade would have 
enriched a foreign country and the great commercial rival of 
the United States, and might have corrupted the morals of the 
Americans by the opportunities it afforded for smuggling. 
The opening of the canal further increased the revenues of 
the State, because it brought salt from the works at Salina 
in competition with the article imported from foreign lands. 

To complete this sketch of the importance of the Erie 
canal, we will see what a joint committee of the Senate and 
Assembly of 181 7 say on the subject : " This State is favor- 
ably situated for the encouragement of every public interest. 
It contains inexhaustible quantities of salt, gypsum and iron 
ores, with a great variety of other valuable materials for 
manufacturing establishments. The thirty miUion acres of 
its territory offer to agricultural industry no uncertain or 
penurious reward. An unrivaled river navigation for more 
than 160 miles, terminating on the sea board, at a port 
which is healthy, capacious and easy of access ; its interior 



94 

boundary line passing for more than half its length through 
the waters of Erie, Ontario and Champlain, and the num- 
erous navigable lakes included within its limits afford to its 
citizens the most decided commercial advantages. In such 
circumstances its prosperity is not surprising. It was to be 
expected that under the direction of prudence and patriotism 
its wealth, population and security would be rapidly ad- 
vanced. And this advance, which is everywhere observable, 
is not the less gratifying because it was natural and probable. 
It is on that account more likely to be permanent. But 
has it not nearly reached its maximum with respect to the 
Southern and Middle Districts, unless some new means of 
aiding it are speedily discovered and applied ? Consider- 
able portions of these districts are now almost replete with 
inhabitants,* who by their industry and enterprise have taken 
possession and made the most of nearly all the bounties 
which nature has spread out before them. Beyond the slow 
progression of improvement to be produced by the invention 
of happier methods of applying labor and the more perfect 
division of mechanical occupations, what will enlarge the 
borders of their cities and villages hereafter ? 

" As the Eastern and Western Districts! have increased in 
numbers and opulence, they have loaded the Hudson with 
their surplus produce and the merchandise for which they 

* The Southern Senatorial District comprised then the counties of 
Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester, New York, Kings, Queens, Suffolk, 
Richmond and Rockland, and had, in 1814, a population of 236,508 
souls, including slaves. In the Middle District were the counties of 
Columbia, Greene, Orange, Ulster, Albany, Delaware, Sullivan, Che- 
nango, Schoharie, Otsego with 261,064 inhabitants. Albany county 
alone had in 1880 a population of 154,890. 

t The Eastern District : Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Herkimer, Jeffer- 
son, Lewis, Montgomery, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Sche- 
nectady, Warren, Washington, with a population of 295,587 in 1814. 
The Western District: Allegany, Broome, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Cort- 
land, Genesee, Madison, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Steuben, 
Tioga, with 243,602 inhabitants. The population of the State was 
then a little over 1,000,000. 



95 

have exchanged it and this trade has been the chief aliment 
of all the increase, which has latterly been exhibited at the 
mouth and along the banks of that river. But the remote 
sections of these districts are contiguous to the territory of a 
foreign power, and are washed by navigable waters, which 
flow into the ocean through that territory. It is for the in- 
terest, and therefore will be the policy, of that power to in- 
vite commercial intercourse with those sections. Facilitated 
by the course of their streams and the decHvity of their 
country, our citizens have already extensively engaged in 
this ^intercourse, and if nothing is done to divert them from 
it, it is easy to foresee that it will become permanent, and 
soon embrace within the number of its agents all those who 
live beyond the high lands, in which our rivers running to 
the north originate, including the most fertile part of the 
State, which is hastening also to become the most populous. 
Our eastern and western districts having been settled from 
the south and the east, roads from these points were, of 
course, first opened. These roads were extended and im- 
proved with the diffusion and age of the new setdements, 
and as they were, for several years, better in proportion to 
their proximity to the Hudson, this circumstance, added to the 
ties of acquaintance, friendship and consanguinity, retained 
the setders for a long time and universally in a business con- 
nection with our own cities. But these roads are now carried 
through to the farthest borders of the State and on the 
margin of the waters, where they terminate a dense, active 
and intelligent population is collected. Stimulated by the 
energetic impulse of private emolument, these people are 
making new roads and improving the old, erecting store- 
houses and wharves, building vessels of every description 
calculated to facilitate transportation, and at various places 
entending into the country by artificial constructions and the 
improvement of natural streams navigable communication 
with the northern waters. The enterprising spirit of these 
people is laudable. It has heretofore added to the wealth 



96 

of the State, while it has enriched themselves, but unless it 
is directed into new channels it will hereafter lavish the pro- 
duction of our soil, to the amount of several millions a year, 
upon our northern neighbors. This unwelcome result it 
appears to your committee that the present state of things 
is rapidly maturing, and to render it still more inauspicious 
it will inevitably produce the effect of sending to a perma- 
nent foreign residence many of our most useful citizens. 

" Shall we look with unconcern and see so large- a portion 
of our means, within our power, of conferring a perpetually 
increasing strength and respectability upon our body politic 
forever averted ? Or shall we adopt an easy, an obvious, an 
effectual method of reclaiming for ourselves and our posterity 
to the remotest generations all these means, ampHfied unto 
their fullest proportions by a warmer patronage, than the 
frozen outlet of the St. Lawrence can ever afford ? The 
decision of this question is now emphatically devolved upon 
the State. It is a question in which the interests of every 
district, county and town are deeply implicated. -* * # 
Navigable canals connecting the Hudson with Lake Erie 
and Lake Champlain would from the moment of their com- 
pletion make it cheaper for nearly all of our northern and 
western citizens to find a market down these canals than in 
any other direction, and they would certainly afford the 
safest possible transportation. 

" But besides calling to our own markets a large amount 
of the productions of our own soil, which are now alienated 
from them, the construction of these canals would draw into 
our limits the trade of the western parts of Vermont, of a 
considerable region in upper Canada and of the northern 
half of all that portion of the United States which lies west 
of the Alleghany mountains. The future extent of this trade 
it would be difficult to calculate. It must be immense. 
The country south of the great lakes alone, from which it 
will flow, includes as many acres as make up the territory of 
some of the most powerful nations of Europe, and is the 



97 

most fertile part of the globe. That country already con- 
tains near a million of souls and is increasing with a rapidity 
of population known only on this side of the Atlantic. * 
* * * It is in our power to open to that country a 
cheaper, safer and more expeditious road to our market 
towns than they can possibly enjoy to any other. Shall it 
be done ? " 

The citizens of Albany know that it has been done, and 
they have derived material benefits from it. The reader of 
this sketch will, however, say, what had Albany to do with 
it, as it was not an Albany enterprise. Let us turn from the 
study of history to that of a cognate and closely allied 
branch, to chorography, which has more to do with the 
events of history than it receives credit for. 

We learn in geography that a range of lofty mountains 
traverses the United States from North Carolina northward 
to the St. Lawrence. This Appalachian range allows access 
to the Adantic Ocean, to various rivers, the Hudson, the 
Delaware and the Susquehanna, but none of them naviga- 
ble for boats until within a short distance from its mouth, 
except the Hudson, which can be navigated by consider- 
able craft as far as Albany, or 150 miles from the sea. It 
was, therefore, necessary that when a connection of the 
Great Lakes with the Atlantic seaboard was considered, the 
Hudson should be chosen. Another consideration was the 
shorter distance between the setdements, then growing up in 
the West, and the Hudson, as compared with a possible 
Mississippi route. From Buffalo, at or near the then con- 
templated commencement of the canal, it is about 300 miles 
to Albany, from Buffalo to Montreal 350 miles, and from 
Montreal to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, 450. From 
Buftalo to New Orleans by the Lakes and the Illinois river, 
2,250. The Upper Lakes, Superior, Michigan and Huron, 
have no other outlet than into Lake Erie ; hence, the trade 
coming to settlements on these lakes had to go eastward 
to find a better market. The distances of towns, then in 



2 ^ 



existence, tell their own story. Chicago is distant from 
Albany, 1,050 miles, from New Orleans about 1,600, and 
from the mouth of the St. Lawrence also 1,600 ; from Detroit 
to Albany the distance is 550 miles, to the ocean, by way 
of the St. Lawrence, 1,050 ; to New Orleans, by way of 
Cleveland and down the Muskingum, 2,400. 

The mountain range mentioned touches the Hudson a 
comparatively short distance below Albany. It would have 
been folly, and caused needless expense, if it had been at- 
tempted to reach the navigable Hudson through this rnnge, 
and as the shortest way is usually the best, Albany had to be 
chosen as the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal. 

And what has the Erie Canal done for the history of the 
United States ? It has raised the State of New York to 
the first place in the sisterhood of Americian commonwealths, 
and going beyond the borders of this State, the benefits de- 
rived from this system of inland navigation have been 
showered upon sister States. 

" I am rejoiced," said Governor Tilden in a speech at 
Utica, " that it is impossible for us to protect and develop 
our own interests in respect to the great systems of inter- 
communication which traverse our State without conferring 
like benefits on the great western communities of Illinois, 
Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri." 




